Flystrike and uterine cancer

[celzani]

I had my bun spayed last week and I’ve been very careful in keeping my rabbit’s area clean to avoid any flies or flystrike. this is because she is currently wearing a cone and so she cannot groom herself. i’ve been looking at her butt daily and i dont see any clumpings of damp fur, however, i have seen three or four very small flies around. they are as small as fruitflies. i know that bigger flies like green bottle flies and house flies can cause flystrike but i do not see very much information on very small flies causing flystrike. do fruitflies/drain flies/gnats cause flystrike?? or are the small flies the baby green bottle neck/baby house flies???? 

also, her uterus was abnormal when the vet spayed her and said that it was lumpy.t they did not exactly say it was cancer and meant that it was in the early early/developing stages. we also had her x-rays done to check her health before the spay but they said that there was no sign of spreading in the lungs. they also said that spreading can occur even when they could not see it through x-rays. how common is spreading when there is no visible signs of spreading in x-rays and also when we have to take her for check ups to check for spreading, do we also need to do x-rays again? 

sorry for the loaded questions! i’ve been trying to research for answers but theres not much information on this. i am going to bring up the questions about the uterine cancer to my vet when i see them on friday though. but any help would be appreciated!

[Sirius&Luna]

I’m pretty sure tiny flies don’t cause flystrike, and I don’t think they’re baby big flies – the problem with flystrike is that maggots hatch before turning into flies, and those maggots are already bigger than fruit flies. However, to get rid of fruit flies, leave a little dish of vinegar out and they’ll be attracted to it. You can also get some fly paper to hang above her hutch to give you extra peace of mind – it’s pretty gross but makes me feel better.

Uterus – it’s good to ask your vet, but I imagine if it hadn’t spread then it won’t spread now that the origin has been removed. It’s generally quite slow to develop, so I imagine if you got it in the early stages, she will be just fine!

[Bam]

Fruit flies don’t cause fly strike. They aren’tt attracted to meat. They like vinegar and can be caught in vinegar traps. There are also small flies that like the damp earth in flower pots indoors. They don’t cause flystrike either. Greenbottle flies are adult when they emerge from the pupae, They don’t grow from tiny flies into big ones. It’s the adult flies that causes flystrike, by laying eggs in wounds/around the anus of buns. Here’s a schematic of their life cycle. As we all know from tv shows like CSI, blow flies are important for forensics: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/visibleproofs/galleries/technologies/blowfly.html

Aws for the uterus: I’m glad you had her spayed! Uterine cancer is slow to spread,so chances are good she’s healthy now. We have had had many cases of buns with changes to the uterine lining that were fully cured by spaying. Vienna Blue In France is a member who has a rabbit that had such changes, that was a little over 2 years ago. If uterine cancer do spread, it first spreads to the lungs. This is the reason for the x-rays. If there had been spread, a vet would most likely recommend palliative care/pts of the rabbit, because the disease is then incurable, at least in rabbits. Because they didn’t find anything on the x-rays, your vet went ahead with the spay and that’s proper procedure.

There can be spread that doesn’t show up on the x-rays, a solid tumor must form before it can be seen on x-rays. As mentioned before, uterine cancer is slow to spread and maybe this wasn’t even full-blown cancer. I don’t know if your vet will recommend more x-rays. Currently there’s no treatment for lung tumors in bunnies, so even if you should see them on x-rays, you still can’t treat them. Your vet will most likely listen carefully to her lungs.

You’re of course very welcome to ask questions! That’s what these forums are for =)

[celzani]

i’m very relieved and hopeful she wont get any spread! thank you all for clearing it up !!

[Muj Mom N Bun]

Hopefully she is all in the clear and has many many more happy and healthy years to come…

Thank you to Bam and S&L for such great, informative answers about Fly Strike. It was one of my “newbie bunny mom” anxieties….

[LBJ10]

It’s possible, but unlikely. As the others said, it is very slow growing.

[Author]

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