At wits end with pet rabbit - what should I do?

[catembi]

How do I stop flies laying eggs on the rabbit??

He has got a recurrent sticky eye, which he's got medicine from the vets for, but although I'm washing him & esp his face every day, flies are laying eggs all over him.

NOT 'proper' flystrike as they're not round the back end.

I've been washing him every day with anti mite rabbit shampoo & cutting out the clumps of eggs, but every day there's more eggs. He is long haired & v fluffy & I'm out of ideas.

Can't put fly spray on him as per horses cos he would lick himself & get poisoned. He's a free range rabbit with the run of the yard, so it's not as if he's stuck in a dirty hutch in his own poo.

At the mo he's in a cage in the house cos I don't know how else to keep flies away from him.

 

[Skhosu]

This may souind silly...but would clipping him work?

 

[katherinef]

Hiya
Firstly don't forget flystrike can occur anywhere it doesn't just have to be the backside area.
flies are attracted to damp fur so its possible the regular cleaning is encouraging them.
personally I would hutch your rabbit and weekly disinfect the hutch to deter flies and put some form of curtain netting on the front of the hutch to try to keep them out..
Have you treated your rabbit with Rearguard this prevents maggots forming and is obtaininable from the vet. There is also an over the counter preparation for rabbits called Fly Free which repells flies and can be applied to the rabbit directly.
You can also get a product called "Keep it clean" a hutch deodoriser and bacteria killer and this will also help to "put flies off" this is available online and is not expensive
generally speaking if you hutch the rabbit and maintain good hygiene this will discourage flies.

 

[custard]

They are selling cheap flyscreen material in Aldi at the moment if that's of any help

 

[ann-jen]

It sounds like your rabbit might have problems with his teeth! Rabbits teeth are just like horses and need rasping their teeth from time to time.
The reason they get clagged up round their bottoms is because they are not eating their caecotrophs. Rabbits produce 2 types of poos - the little black pellets you see in his bedding and a soft squidgy poo (caecotroph). Normally you wouldn't see the caecotrophs because rabbits normally eat them directly as they come out of their bums (delightful I know) - its to do with their vitamin B metabolism. However if they have a sore mouth then they stop eating their caecotrophs, get clagged up and then attract flies.
The other thing that makes me think your bun has dental problems is his runny eyes - rather than being an infection it is usually caused by a blockage in the tear duct. The tear duct in the rabbit runs closely over the roots of the molar teeth and so any inflammation around the tooth roots will block it. It is a fiddly but realtively simple procedure for your vet to catheterise and flush the tear duct to release the blockage and while your bun was sedated to do this they can also rasp his teeth to try to stop it reoccuring. Sadly sometimes the tear duct is too badly damaged to stop it reoccuring so the sooner its treated the better.

 

[tel]

rear guard is a good product used it when had bunnies in the past

 

[ticobay831]

The flys are awfull this year

Have you spoken to your vet, im sure they can advise you.
Id be inclined to keep bunny indoors till you can get somthing sorted and yes i would definatly clip him as well

good luck, hope you manage to get him sorted, keep us informed on how hes progressing

Debs x

 

[rema]

I lost two bunnies last year to flystrike it was very upseting to see when i had tried everything to stop the flies.Hutches were cleaned out/disinfected daily,rear guard,washing backsides.The vets said it was an awful year for flystrike because it was so damp then dry then damp again.I guess this year is going to be the same weather wise.I hope you get bunnie sorted out.I know how you feel.

 

[catembi]

Thanks everyone - sounds as if a trip to the vets might be in order to get hold of some decent products & have another look at his eye.

Can't believe how dense his fur is - it's got a really woolly layer next to his skin like a Shetland pony.

We got him as a rescue rabbit & I think he's around 8 years old. Hope he's going to be okay as I enjoy having him hopping round the yard.

 

[star]

get some rearguard for him and definitely get his teeth checked.