Hi fellow pet lovers
I am sure a lot of you already know about fly strike especially as the weather has warmed significantly and the flies are going mad.

Unfortunately we found out too late. Our poor guinea pig was one of two we had only recently put in to their outdoor hutch (they are indoor piggies) and although I inspect their rear ends frequently, when I picked Nibbles up the other day he was infested with maggots on his belly. This is truly a horrible, gruesome thing for your pet to have. We got him to the vet within an hour and he did seem to be recovering well up to yesterday. However last night we lost him. It seemed his body could not recover from the shock of it all.

The maggots produce a toxin which quite quickly overcomes the animal and then it is too late.

I would beg anyone with a family pet who is not familiar with this (and I admit in all my years of owning pigs and rabbits this has never happened before), to inspect their bunny and pig's rear end and clean them regularly down there. I believe citronella oil applied to the area keeps flies away (any other advice would be greatly appreciated).

i used to use a couple of drops of travipharma (sp?) it's a pigeon medicament and preventative, but basically contains ivermectin, put that on them through the warm months last year, mainly to prevent lice/mites, but i didn't see a fly on them all summer, so far this year, i've not used anything other that good husbandry techniques

there are several sprays out there however which protect against fly strike, one of them being something i first got for treatment of lice from johnsons the year before last- you can only use these from 8 weeks of age though, so if anyone goes out & buys guinea pigs please wait a couple of weeks before spraying - most pigs bought are six weeks of age, some may even be four weeks, so be carful.
young rabbits however are fine to spray as these are 8 weeks before they leave the breeder (providing it's a good breeder)
some may leave at six weeks again however, so you may want to wait.

thankfully i've never had this happen, lice and mite outbreaks i've had once and twice collectively but it never affected my whole stock
sorry for your loss OP
hope you can find it in your heart to get your remaining guinea a new friend

So sorry to hear about your guinea pig, Janie.
It's good of you to share your story which will hopefully mean that people are aware of what can happen.

Thanks for your advice. Our poor remaining guinea pig looks so lonely on his own in his cage (now back indoors). He was with his friend since he was a baby and I am sure he is wondering where on earth he is. He's not even squeaking anymore when we rattle his bag of broccoli near the cage.

Unusually they were both males and they lived happily together. I am not sure that it would be a good idea to introduce another male and certainly not a female unless we have Truffle castrated.

Thanks for your kind words. We really miss him!

that's not unusual, honey, i've several males living together, none are from the same litters and there is only one father/son paring i have, and they're in with another boar, all introduced at odd ages

all of my boars live within... well, inches of my females, none are neutered either and they're perfectly happy with each other

my advice to you, try a young boar, it's worth a shot
i have never had an issue introducing a young boar to an older boar

I would urge people to also watch over their cats and dogs too for flystrike.

Other animals can also get it.

Oh I do sympathise, JanieB. I lost my piggie a year ago to flystrike. I never saw the maggots myself but we took my little one to the vet after she seemed a bit constipated and was off her food and she bled from down below The vet injected her with something to try and flush the maggots out but sadly she died two days later. It does seem that once the little things get an infection like that, they can't really recover. My other little girl piggie was very quiet for a few days after

Hi i run a small Rabbit, guinea pig and small rodent boarding accommodation and i apply to all my boarders (rabbits and Guinea pigs)Fly Guard by beaphar. I buy it from pets at home for £10 pound and start using it as early as easter. Very sorry to hear about your Guinea pig
ps It frustrates me when the owners of the rabbits or Guineas dont know what flystrike is

You can also buy 'Fly Guard' in various sizes on Ebay

thanks for the tip about being able to get it on ebay just looked and it works out more expensive. This is one of the adverts "Convenient 15ml spray which will give you approximately 15 pumps" £4.99 that is one aplication. the one from pets at home is 75ml for £10.
cheers i,m allways looking at cutting costs
Lisa

There is also a product called Rearguard which is recommended by many in the rabbit-keeping community. I'm not sure of the price now.

I'm sorry to hear about your piggie, OP. We lost a rabbit to flystrike years ago, it is a horrible thing to happen.

Thought I'd bump this thread back up, as we've just lost one of our rabbits to flystrike only today. She was a larger sized rabbit (due to her large breed) and has only just recently found it hard to clean herself down below. We found her in her hutch this morning, red raw where maggots had infested her overnight so therefore had to put to sleep.

Although it's coming to the end of flystrike season, please keep an eye on your loved pets, because it's devastating knowing you could've prevented it so much better.

Hi Dakota,
I am the OP on this thread. So sorry to hear about your poor rabbit. I have been checking my remaining pigs' rears twice a day since the death of Nibbles back in June. We bought another guinea pig (Coco) to keep Truffles company a few weeks later, because he seemed so sad. Co-incidence or not, it was good to see a big sign on the pet shop door and the area where the pigs and bunnies were being sold, advising customers about fly strike. I have never seen such a poster before (this was Pets At Home).

I also decided to bring them back indoors again in to their indoor cage. I know flies can get in to the house but we haven't had any further problems and they are cleaned and treated daily. I just feel so bad for the guinea pig we lost. In fact I threw out the outdoor cage after it happened as I wouldn't even entertain putting the others out there again, just in case.

Flystrike is such a horrible thing. My friend's houserabbit died of it a few years ago, and the animal charity I worked with even had a feral kitten die of it - it was so sudden, she was fine in the evening and dead by the following afternoon. Sorry to hear about your rabbits and guinea pigs

Yeah it's something a lot of people are very complacent about during the summer months, as many people believe the heat is the only thing to really worry about. It's not a very nice way to go, or even see them ill with.

I didn't know that.

It's true cats can get it - as I said we had a kitten die of it. But it is unusual. Cats are very fastidious, and they can easily reach their backsides to wash. Tiny kittens will be washed thoroughly by their mums, and when they get older their owner is much more likely to notice any problem on kittens, whereas bunnies spend a lot of time sat on their bottoms so have to be specially inspected.

I had to get my bunny put down today as he had become infested with flystrike pretty much over night, and it was too far gone to save him. He was 6 years old and by no means young, I am still gutted about this Please check your bunnies rear ends as a habit, but be wary that flystrike can still happen regardless x

I'm very saddened to hear about all your traumatic losses to this horrible affliction. This is one major reason we keep our 4 bunnies indoors.

It doesn't matter how much you care about your bunnies/pigs, it can take hold in a matter of hours.

All you guys can do is to keep their beds/hutches immaculately clean & check them every couple of hours.

So sorry for all your losses.

I've owned a rabbit for about a year, from previous rabbit owners this was one of the first things I was told about.

I've been paranoid about this all the time I've owned her. Such a gastly, horrible, infliction.

I offer my honest sympathies for anyone who's loved ones (pets are part of the family too), that has suffered from this.

We own both a cat and a rabbit, both are kept indoors, but yet I get scared should I even see a housefly.

The first time you see flystrike you wont forget it, it is a gruesome disease. Sorry for everyone else's losses, bunnies, guinea pigs, cats and anything else that has had it. I'm devastated, and it is true, only takes a few hours. Overnight my bunny's rear end became a mess of raw flesh and maggots.

It's important to still check rabbits' bots regularly even if they live indoors - my friend's houserabbit died of flystrike. He seemed fine when my friend went to work in the morning, and by the time he got back that evening poor bunny was at death's door.

My 2 year old lionhead bunny was diagnosed yesterday (rushed to emergency vet) was literally overnight.She's still eating and fairly perky so fingers crossed but still could go either way Another trip to vets shortly for more antibiotics and painkillers. The redness seems to have gone down but is still very tender on one side. I have been checking her regularly as well as keeping her and the hutch clean.Literally screamed when I saw the huge red patch under her fur.

Citronella oil soaked in muslin and hung in proximity to the caged animal is supposed to be a good repellent,as well as some form of netting around more exposed areas.