Poppy and Floppy

When I travelled to Market Drayton last weekend, I noticed a rabbit in the middle of a big roundabout. I returned with a pet carrier and after a few attempts I was able to catch this rabbit. The rabbit had puffy swollen eyes, along with swollen lips, ears and testicles. In fact, the rabbit had become blind because of the severe swelling of his eyelids, hence finding the rabbit sitting on the road in broad daylight!! Unfortunately this does not only happen in wild rabbits. My colleagues and I have experienced a severe outbreak of myxomatosis over the last few eeeks. To prevent futile suffering we have had to put many pet rabbits to sleep.

Myxomatosis is caused by a poxvirus. It was first found in Brazil where it causes tiny skin lumps in the Cotton Tailed rabbit. However in our European rabbits the virus is very pathogenic, and causes a severe and often fatal disease. The virus was taken from Brazil to France to control the population of wild rabbits. In 1953 it was illegally realeased into the United Kingdom.

Myxomatosis is spread by blood sucking insects, like fleas and mosquitoes, carrying the virus. This means that even indoor rabbits are at risk and need to be protected. Treatment of unvaccinated rabbits is disappointing. Even with extensive nursing to keep the rabbit eating, they often die of secondary infections and breathing complications after one or two weeks. Therefore prevention by vaccination is the best policy. Vaccination can never garantuee complete protection against any disease, but it considerately reduces the risk and should infection occur there is a chance of recovery.

Rabbits can be vaccinated as young as 6 weeks of age, and it should be done every 6 months. Other measures to prevent biting insects getting to your rabbits are important as well. Rabbit hutches can be fitted with insect screens, standing water where mosquitoes breed should be removed, and it is important to treat rabbits with any signs of Cheyletiella fur mites (e.g. “dandruff” on the back of the neck) and fleas. However discuss treatment with your vet because some flea products can actually kill rabbits.

Poppy and floppy have responsible owners and are vaccinated against this horrible disease. We would also advise to vaccinate your rabbit against VHD (viral haemorrhagic disease), another deadly virus contractible in the United Kingdom.

Although this article was written 3 years ago, we have again seen many rabbits with myxomatosis in 2010!

The following morning Sox vomited, would not eat and was very quiet. The owner did not waste any time and came to see me.

Diagnosing foreign bodies is not always easy. If the object is still in the stomach, it cannot be felt because the stomach is hidden behind the ribcage. An x-ray may help, but unfortunately not all foreign material will be visible. Sometimes the addition of a dye material like barium is necessary to determine if a foreign body and obstruction is present.

As expected the sock was not visible on the x-ray of his tummy, but having seen Sox eat the foreign body as well as having a painful tummy, meant that I had no other choice than to operate.

Operating on a suspected foreign body case is always an exciting procedure. What object will we find? How extensive is the damage to the bowels? And not to forget: will we find a foreign body? Sox’s operation was relatively straightforward. The sock was removed through an incision in the stomach and small intestines. Because of the short time span between Sox eating the sock and the operation there was no damage done to the bowels. If the foreign body is in the bowels for a prolonged amount of time, the risk of perforation increases and subsequently the pet will develop a peritonitis, which carries a poor prognosis.

Sox was soon back to his normal self. Because prevention is better than cure we would always advise to be critical when buying toys for your dog or cat. Make sure they are safe and big enough so they cannot be swallowed in one go. During my career as a vet I have removed several buttons, strings, toys, bones, corn on the cob and even a kebab stick! Young dogs, particularly males like Sox, are naturally curious and enjoy chewing. In this case, the owner has been advised to keep Sox away from any other socks!!

Round worms look like small pieces of spaghetti. They live in the dog’s bowels and consume partly digested food.

 Dogs become infected by swallowing roundworm eggs, which contain infectious larvae. These larvae hatch in the stomach and small bowels and migrate to the muscle, liver and lungs. The larvae will be coughed up and swallowed again, and, back in the bowels, develop into egg-producing adults. The eggs will pass in the dog’s faeces.

Although these worms are not very harmful to adult dogs, large numbers can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and weakness.

Roundworms can be diagnosed by detecting the eggs in a microscopic examination of a faecal sample, or like in this case by finding a mature worm in the vomit.

Moss was treated with a worming tablet. This will essentially anaesthetise the worm so that it releases its grip on the host’s intestine and passes with the stool. However this treatment will not kill the immature stages or migrating larvae.

Roundworms can pose a health risk for humans, and children are particularly at risk. Prompt disposal of dog faeces is important, especially in gardens and playgrounds. The main danger is that the larvae migrate to the eye where they can cause blindness.

Pregnant bitches that have had roundworms at any time in the past will transmit them to their pups before birth, even if there are no eggs in the faeces. This is because the larvae that migrated to the muscles will have encysted in a resting phase. The hormonal changes during the pregnancy cause the larvae to migrate again, across the placenta to the puppies. The larvae can also be passed on after birth through the milk.

Almost all puppies are infected with round worms when they are born and should be wormed at regular intervals from 2 weeks of age onwards. Affected puppies can lose weight and have a pot-bellied appearance.

After 6 months of age, all dogs should be wormed 3 to 4 times a year.

Initially his own vet had tried to mend the fractures by stabilising the bones with a splint. Since young animals heal rapidly, a padded plastic splint is often enough to stabilise a relatively stable fracture. It normally has to stay on for 4 to 6 weeks. However, in Rocky’s case the fracture fragments failed to unite and heal in this time, and he ended up with a so called non-union fracture.

Rocky was then referred to Nantwich Veterinary Hospital to see Tom, one of our orthopaedic surgeons. He explained to the owner that small breeds of dogs are particularly prone to the non-union of fractures of the radius and ulna. In around 85% of these cases the forearm fractures do not want to heal. This could be due to several reasons: one of those is that small dogs have a poor blood supply to the lower part of the radius bone, so healing can take longer than other bones in the body.

Tom opted for a surgical approach to warrant a successful outcome. Rocky was anaesthetised, and Tom meticulously stabilised the fractured bones with plates and screws.

This time Rocky’s bones healed well and Rocky is back to his normal self.

But…. no more skateboarding for Rocky!!!

The lungworm parasite spends part of its lifecycle in slugs, snails or even frogs. The danger to dogs arises when small slugs or snails are either purposefully or accidentally eaten while rummaging through undergrowth, eating grass, or taken up when drinking from puddles or an outdoor water bowl.

The symptoms of the condition are many and varied, including, coughing, reluctance to exercise, depression, weight loss, fits, vomiting, diarrhoea, weakness and paralysis, or persistent bleeding from minor cuts. However, a small proportion of dogs are hidden carriers, which means they don’t show any symptoms.

Owners who notice any of these symptoms or whose dogs might eat slugs or snails should contact Nantwich Veterinary Group for an immediate consultation. The sooner the disease is spotted, the easier it is to treat and the more likely the dog will go on to make a full recovery.

The disease is not treated by using conventional worming tablets every 3 months, or even every month. However, treatment is relatively simple and a prescription-only spot-on product can be obtained from us. This treatment also controls other worms, fleas and mites, which means you can address lungworm and a number of common parasites in one application.