Happy Monday from Momma. 💖 (fb)

CONTENT WARNING Description of injuries Complications and treatment LAST PHOTO CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGE Read caption first Pigs fight all the time. Side scrapes and bloody ears are the norm. If you follow us regularly, you will notice that my posting over the last few days went from Dobby got the worst of a scrap, poor fella to I have a medical emergency on my hands and need to get my boy to the vet NOW. There’s a reason we keep close eyes on our little warriors after battle, especially during the warmer months and this is why. The scrap took place late Monday afternoon. Dobby is the OG house pig, so his coming inside for a few days observation was an easy choice. Of course he still had business to attend to, so we let him out for that, but for the most part, we kept him inside, kept his injuries clean, kept an eye on him. On Tuesday afternoon I came home for lunch and noticed some minor changes in his ear but chalked it up to the healing process. By late Tuesday afternoon when I came home I noticed more of the same but it was a white substance and it was on both sides of his ear. Upon closer inspection it looked like a bit of puss. Okay no worries he’s due for a cleaning anyway. But I happened to take a photo of it (photo 3) and it was only when I enlarged the image I saw what it really was and my stomach dropped. It was FLYSTRIKE. And now it was an emergency. It needed immediate and thorough treatment. This situation could turn deadly in a matter of hours. And it needed a vet visit. It starts when certain flies lay eggs on an animal — often in warm, damp, or injured areas. • In warm weather, those eggs can hatch in 8–12 hours. • Once they hatch, it becomes myiasis — maggots burrowing into living flesh, releasing toxins, and putting the victim into shock. We immediately created a strong solution to flush the area and scrub the wound. We used tweezers and ensured every single egg was removed. Because any egg that hatches will become a painful, potentially deadly problem. I monitored the wound all night on the hour and we got him to the vet asap for her all clear, plus a preventative dose of antibiotics. 💡 If you care for animals in warm months: • Check daily — especially tails, ears, wounds, or anywhere damp. • Keep bedding clean and dry. • Act immediately if you see eggs — don’t “monitor,” don’t “wait and see.” The countdown has already started. I’m sharing this because I don’t want anyone else to find out the hard way how fast flystrike turns deadly. If you see eggs, treat it like an emergency — because it is. (fb)