bantambunnies
Well-known member
Today I found a botfly larva/cuterebra/warble in my buck's testicle. :x
I've been keeping an eye on him, since that testicle has been hard and a little bit swollen for well over a year now. There didn't seem to be an active infection and he was healthy, so I left it alone once the wound in it healed (see my previous thread here: post236972.html#p236972 ).
But today it was WAY more swollen than usual and - there was a hole (maybe 1/4 in. across?) with a big ugly black worm head sticking out!
So of course, I went here first and did some research. Then I got my supplies together and got started on removing the ooky larva.
First I heated up a dish of water in the microwave with 1 tsp salt in it. I put it in the fridge to cool.
I got my Vaseline - I only had a little tube of it, because of course nobody can find the tub of it when we need it. I poured some vegetable oil in a little dish; I figured I'd need it if I ran out of Vaseline. I know mineral oil is suggested, but we only had baby oil and skin-so-soft (both are mineral oil, but with scent). Vegetable oil is more natural, anyway, and I thought it might be safer than the baby oil.
I used tweezers. I also used LOTS of Q-tips and some cotton balls. Have some tissue handy - I didn't, and was sorry.
I sat down on my front porch and laid the rabbit on his back on top of an old towel, facing outward. I propped him up on either side with my legs. (It was kinda hot, so I had someone get me a plastic bag of ice to lay against his side to cool him off.)
I alternated smothering the larva's head with Vaseline and pouring vegetable oil on it. (Can I say EW!
) I noticed that as soon as I did this, brown liquid started oozing out of the hole. Was that blood, or was that some kind of worm fluid?
This part of the process took a long time - maybe half an hour - because I kept waiting for the worm to come out far enough for me to grab it with the tweezers.
**If you're doing a cuterebra removal, BE CAREFUL with your tweezers! If you rupture/puncture the worm, it could release a toxic liquid into the hole which could prove fatal to your rabbit.** (At least, that's what I've read!)
Finally I realized that that worm wasn't going to come out far enough for me to grab it without puncturing it. What I did was I worked the tweezers carefully into the hole, between the skin and the larva. Then, the next time it emerged from the hole, I firmly squeezed the body with the tweezers - being careful not to pop it! I slowly but firmly pulled it out of the hole. This took several seconds, but FINALLY the gross little thing popped out! SUCCESS! (If anyone wants a photo, I can post one.)
I don't think I ruptured it, but some clear liquid did drip off of it as I removed it. To be sure, I immediately flushed the hole with the saltwater I'd prepared earlier, and which was now lukewarm.
I repeated the saltwater rinse a few times, and then dried the hole with Q-tips. To be sure there was nothing ooky still in there, I dripped some hydrogen peroxide into the hole and got inside with the Q-tips. After it foamed, I rinsed it again with the saltwater and dried the hole with Q-tips.
At this point, I didn't have any kind of antibiotic or anything handy besides Neosporin, so I followed the suggestion of some on RT and dripped *raw honey* into the hole. I made sure it was well in there and wiped off the excess.
Then I popped him back in his cage with a slice of banana. I cleaned up my mess (and I did make a mess) and jumped right in the shower!
For those of you who have experience with this kind of thing: what now? Was the honey a good idea? It's not manuka honey, but it is raw. I figured it'd be better than nothing. I can do topical and oral treatments, but I've never injected anything and I don't feel confident in my ability to try.
I'll continue to keep an eye on him for now and make sure that hole stays clean. He sure was a trooper through the whole thing - he hardly struggled at all.
At this point I'm really considering neutering... especially since I noticed some strange little white dots on the testicles today as well. If only it wasn't so darn expensive.
I've been keeping an eye on him, since that testicle has been hard and a little bit swollen for well over a year now. There didn't seem to be an active infection and he was healthy, so I left it alone once the wound in it healed (see my previous thread here: post236972.html#p236972 ).
But today it was WAY more swollen than usual and - there was a hole (maybe 1/4 in. across?) with a big ugly black worm head sticking out!
So of course, I went here first and did some research. Then I got my supplies together and got started on removing the ooky larva.
First I heated up a dish of water in the microwave with 1 tsp salt in it. I put it in the fridge to cool.
I got my Vaseline - I only had a little tube of it, because of course nobody can find the tub of it when we need it. I poured some vegetable oil in a little dish; I figured I'd need it if I ran out of Vaseline. I know mineral oil is suggested, but we only had baby oil and skin-so-soft (both are mineral oil, but with scent). Vegetable oil is more natural, anyway, and I thought it might be safer than the baby oil.
I used tweezers. I also used LOTS of Q-tips and some cotton balls. Have some tissue handy - I didn't, and was sorry.
I sat down on my front porch and laid the rabbit on his back on top of an old towel, facing outward. I propped him up on either side with my legs. (It was kinda hot, so I had someone get me a plastic bag of ice to lay against his side to cool him off.)
I alternated smothering the larva's head with Vaseline and pouring vegetable oil on it. (Can I say EW!
) I noticed that as soon as I did this, brown liquid started oozing out of the hole. Was that blood, or was that some kind of worm fluid? This part of the process took a long time - maybe half an hour - because I kept waiting for the worm to come out far enough for me to grab it with the tweezers.
**If you're doing a cuterebra removal, BE CAREFUL with your tweezers! If you rupture/puncture the worm, it could release a toxic liquid into the hole which could prove fatal to your rabbit.** (At least, that's what I've read!)
Finally I realized that that worm wasn't going to come out far enough for me to grab it without puncturing it. What I did was I worked the tweezers carefully into the hole, between the skin and the larva. Then, the next time it emerged from the hole, I firmly squeezed the body with the tweezers - being careful not to pop it! I slowly but firmly pulled it out of the hole. This took several seconds, but FINALLY the gross little thing popped out! SUCCESS! (If anyone wants a photo, I can post one.)
I don't think I ruptured it, but some clear liquid did drip off of it as I removed it. To be sure, I immediately flushed the hole with the saltwater I'd prepared earlier, and which was now lukewarm.
I repeated the saltwater rinse a few times, and then dried the hole with Q-tips. To be sure there was nothing ooky still in there, I dripped some hydrogen peroxide into the hole and got inside with the Q-tips. After it foamed, I rinsed it again with the saltwater and dried the hole with Q-tips.
At this point, I didn't have any kind of antibiotic or anything handy besides Neosporin, so I followed the suggestion of some on RT and dripped *raw honey* into the hole. I made sure it was well in there and wiped off the excess.
Then I popped him back in his cage with a slice of banana. I cleaned up my mess (and I did make a mess) and jumped right in the shower!
For those of you who have experience with this kind of thing: what now? Was the honey a good idea? It's not manuka honey, but it is raw. I figured it'd be better than nothing. I can do topical and oral treatments, but I've never injected anything and I don't feel confident in my ability to try.
I'll continue to keep an eye on him for now and make sure that hole stays clean. He sure was a trooper through the whole thing - he hardly struggled at all.
At this point I'm really considering neutering... especially since I noticed some strange little white dots on the testicles today as well. If only it wasn't so darn expensive.
