Nibble News
A sad farewell to long termer Pam
(June 15, 2016)We received very sad news this morning from our vets that long term Camp Nibbler Pam bunny had passed away under treatment :(
Pam joined us 5 years ago along with her sister Anna having both been neglected in their original home. Both of the girls sadly had advanced dental disease. Pam has needed several operations over the years including at least two for dental related abscesses. Despite her issues under the care of our wonderful rabbit specialist vet Frances Harcourt-Brown BVSc FRCVS she kept on bouncing back, and has always been a strong happy bunny. She reigned as the alpha bunny in our dental group seeing many other special needs friends come and go over the years.
Pam’s health took a dramatic turn for the worst on Monday and she clearly wasn’t herself at all. On examining her we had the horrible shock of finding hundreds of tiny fly larvae hidden all over her back end and most shockingly all over her fluffy face! On first glance we thought she just had grass seeds stuck in her beard. They really were tiny and very hard to notice at this stage. Well aware of the terrifying reality of what would have happened to her if these larvae were given any chance to hatch and grow into maggots she was rushed to our vets.
The fly strike was thank goodness caught in the very early stages so all of the larvae could be removed before causing her any harm. Sadly, though further tests/investigations into her very poor condition showed that she had been hiding serious illness, and her prognosis was very poor. She had evidence of kidney failure and abnormalities/infection in her skull which may possibility have been cancerous. As an always very clean rabbit living in clean conditions having only very recently been given a long lasting fly guard treatment it was a surprise for her to become a victim of fly strike. On discovery of these serious underlying problems it very much appears that the flies were well aware that she was dying, and were attracted to the cancer/infection.
Sorry for such a scary and sad post. However, it might be helpful for bunny parents to be aware that a very clean rabbit, living in very clean conditions becoming a victim of fly strike in this way may be an indicator that something else serious underlying is going on which might need investigating (of course this isn’t always the case). Most importantly though please be aware of the seriousness of fly strike and the importance of getting your rabbit veterinary care asap: http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/…/Flystrikedontgetcaughtout.…
We’re all going to miss you Pam our scruffy witches cat, we hope very much you enjoyed your 5 years here as top dog finishing off everyone’s dinner!
Huge thanks to everyone who has sponsored Pam during her stay with us, and as always to Crab Lane vets and Holly House Veterinary Hospital for both taking such great care of her over the years.
Thank you
