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Poor Annie had a maggot in her face!

anniespeeps

Well-known member
If you're sqeamish or easily grossed out, then skip this message. :eek:

For those who missed my earlier posts, we took Annie to the vet about a week ago because we thought she had been stung by a wasp under her right eye. She had a small scab and a big lump under her eye. The vet put her on antibiotics, but she wasn't getting better. She had basically stopped eating and wasn't her normal Cavalier self.

I took her back to the vet for the fourth time today, and he was somewhat amazed to find that she had a fly larva growing in her skin right under her eye! Apparently it's somewhat common in rabbits and cats, but very unusual in dogs.

The fly is called a cuterebra or botfly (click here for more info), and it lays its eggs on the ground where animals (usually rabbits) have their nests. The eggs stick to the animal's fur and hatch in response to their body eat. The egg hatches, and the larva makes its way into the body through the mouth or nose and deposits itself near the skin surface. I feeds off the host and grows until it matures, then it pops out and flies away.

The darn thing was still squirming when the vet pulled it out. :shock: It was about a quarter of an inch long. He showed me some others he had pulled out of animals. One of them was about two inches long and as big around as my little finger.

This all makes sense now, because there are a lot of wild rabbits living in our new neighborhood. The vet didn't even suspect it at first, because he had never seen one in a dog before.

Anyway, Annie already looks like she's feeling better. She'll be on antibiotics for a while just as a precaution, and hopefully the lump will start shrinking now that the "visitor" is gone. (y)
 
I always think if you own a dog/dogs expect the unexpected, this story proves it. Poor Annie it must have been so uncomfortable and sore for her but at least the cause of her problem is gone and now she will get better, sending Annie :luv: and thanks for sharing :)
 
OMG!!! Good for you in your persistance when you saw she wasn't getting better and kept taking her back. While that totally grossed me out, I can only imagine how uncomfortable that must have been for Annie.

I'm so glad you finally got to the bottom of this and hopefully her poor little eye will be all better in no time.
 
Oh lord! that's gross :eek: poor baby must have felt awful with all that going on. Thank God you kept going back to the Vet. Hope Annie feels much better now :lotsaluv:
 
Poor Annie! You must have been shocked when you found out what it was :eek:
Wishing Annie a speedy recovery :flwr::flwr:
 
Oh that's quite grim. Poor Annie must have been so uncomfortable. Glad you finally got it sorted and she can return to her usual self.
 
poor annie.

its usually called fly strike and is common in rabbits, if they have dirty bottoms.

i have seen it in a cat and a dog covered in maggots at the emergancy clinic that we have to work at because of normal surgery, sadly the dog had to be put to sleep!!

glad you got it out before it got worse

hugs for annie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
I had another dog a shih tzu and it had the same problem and she died because of it, a very nasty thing!!!
 
Oh my goodness, that's horrible, glad you finally got rid of it and hope Annie heals quickly. I hope your vet didn't make you pay for all 4 visits after he missed that.
 
EEEWWWWW!!! I've never heard of such a thing. :eek:
Thank goodness it's taken care of now, and she will be feeling all better soon.
 
OMGoodness, I'm just catching up with this thread. :eek:

How is Annie doing - is she completely recovered yet? I'm so glad your vet figured it out.

I've heard of kittens having maggots but not dogs. We have wild rabbits in our backyard, in fact they've nested for 2 years now. We put up wire fencing to protect the nests so our dogs will leave them alone. Now I just wish the bunnies wouldn't nest here.

Hope she's completely back to normal now! :flwr:
 
OMGoodness, I'm just catching up with this thread. :eek:

How is Annie doing - is she completely recovered yet? I'm so glad your vet figured it out.

I've heard of kittens having maggots but not dogs. We have wild rabbits in our backyard, in fact they've nested for 2 years now. We put up wire fencing to protect the nests so our dogs will leave them alone. Now I just wish the bunnies wouldn't nest here.

Hope she's completely back to normal now! :flwr:

Hi Cathy!

Annie's doing much better. The lump below her eye is gone, and her face is healing nicely. She's eating better, and she's just about back to her normal Cavalier self. She'll probably have a scar on her face for a while.

The vet said this was the first time he had seen one of these in a dog. It mostly happens to rabbits and cats.
 
I've picked my fair share of maggots out of dogs when I was at the emergancy clinic. it's much more common on poor outside dogs:mad:. at least it was just the one, and sound like you caught it early. you don't want to know what happens left untreated.:( I'm glad she's getting better!
 
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