Warble in wild rabbit

Question
QUESTION: Dear Dana, my wife and I have befriended a wild rabbit we call Dottie, and she
has been visiting our patio every day for the past 3 months - still wild but
rather fearless and trusting of us. While hand feeding her today, I noticed
what we have since confirmed is a warble, there is a pink tinged circular sore
with some depth and what looks to be the larvae in the middle. Dottie has
been acting a little strange the past few days, more lethargic and keeping to
herself unless we look for her and call her out from under one of her
habitats. Although we pet her nose, catching and holding her may be fatal in
and of itself. However, we are thinking about attempting to remove the
warble ourselves, if we can get hold of her. Our thought is to squeeze this
thing out from under it while pulling with tweezers (this is probably a futile
effort but we must try something. The question for you is if you have another
recommendation, and if we are able to remove the warble without breaking it,
what type of disinfectant can we use that won't exacerbate the problem and
help her heal properly? We are rabbit people, the irony is that Dottie has set
up shop next to the grave of our beloved house rabbit Sparky. We tend to
adopt the wild animals that come through our backyard although we do not
mess with their habitats other than by feeding them. Dottie probably wouldn't
cost more than $10 if you could buy her from a breeder, but we love her.
Thank you for your kind attention to this request for help. Best wishes,
Michael

ANSWER: Dear Michael,

You are very kind to be concerned about Dottie, and wanting to help her.  And you couldn't buy her kind from a breeder if she's truly a wild cottontail (if you're in the US; if you're in the UK, then she's the same species as your beloved Sparky).  But that's part of the problem:  if she's truly wild, handling her might cause fatal stress, or at the very least cause her to lose her trust in you.

If Dottie were in my yard, here's what I'd do:

1.  Ask a familiar rabbit vet for a small dose of Valium/diazepam.  It's got no flavor, so you can put it on a treat, either as a small chunk of the tablet, or crushed into powder.

2.  Do this in the morning, so she won't be in danger from nocturnal predators if this doesn't work.  The Valium should wear off in about 8 hours, and will start to take effect within about 30 minutes of your administration.  Try to wait until the Valium has taken effect before moving to step 3.

3.  Set up a puppy pen fence (if you have KW corral fencing, that's ideal), making sure the slats are not wide enough for her to squeeze her head through and hurt herself.  

4.  Get her to come into the pen by sitting there and giving her treats inside it, and have one of you gently close the pen behind you.

5.  If she's not *too* wild, you might at this point be able to gently herd her into a carrier.  Hold it in front of her with the door taken off, and use the door to nudge her inside.  Another person can be using a towel to slowly and gently herd her towards the carrier door.

6.  Once you have her in the carrier, bring her inside and let her calm down for a bit, allowing the Valium to really kick in.

7.  To handle her most safely, have a small towel ready.  One person opens the carrier door, and the other person gently and slowly covers Dottie with a towel. She may protest, and she may jump wildly, at which point you may decide to take her to a rabbit vet who can administer anesthesia (in an induction box, not via mask) and do this warble removal more safely.

If you decide to go this route (which might be the best idea), then you can find a rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Now to the warble:  

We've found that applying Revolution will weaken the larva, but this can take several hours to work.  If the larva is in good health, it will not come out easily.  It has barbed bristles it uses to dig in and avoid being pulled out!  The sensation of this struggle:  you with tweezers versus botfly with bristles--may cause Dottie to jump and struggle, and this is where the danger comes in!

If you are able to get the maggot out, then the best flush to use is dilute povidone iodine (Betadine).  But if there is pus, she may need to be on systemic antibiotics--and good luck with that, if you need to release her soon to avoid fatal stress of captivity.  Analgesia would be a good idea, and metacam is safe for rabbits.  We use it at a dose of 0.1 - 0.2mg/kg once every 24 hours.

You can see that what you're wanting to do--although very kind and generous--is also quite challenging and possibly dangerous to her.  

A botfly warble generally does not kill; the larva drops out when it's ready to pupate.  But it is painful, and this could be why Dottie is acting out of sorts.  If the cyst becomes infected, though, it could pose a threat to Dottie's life and health.

I hope this will help you make the decision on what to do next.  Good luck!!!

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Dana, Thank you for such a rapid and professional response. And thank
you especially for not thinking this is an insignificant little beast. She is so
cute! BTW-we are located in Pennsylvania. At this point, we are paralyzed in
our decision process, weighing the alternatives. I am of the belief that we
should let nature work it's course and hope the larva pupates without
infection. Dottie actually seems to be acting more normal; if her fur had not
been ruffled (by her scratching), we may have never noticed the warble - who
knows how long it's been in her? However, my wife wants to be more
proactive, so probably we will act on the valium, corral, vet scenario you
described. We had a good vet for our house rabbit. There are many owls and
hawks in our neck of the woods, so we believe Dottie is quite the survivor
because she chooses the most fortified habitats, is extremely vigilant and
shows a few battle scars.  So, we don't want her life ended prematurely by an
infection or our mishandling her. She must be at least 2 years old and we
have seen her give birth to many litters. Again, thank you kindly for your
attention to this problem and I cannot give enough praise about this web site
directing us to you. After experiencing this event and learning from the
Internet and YouTube more about bot flies, etc., I will be ever more vigilant
about myself during my next forays to Africa. Best regards, Ellen and Michael

Answer
Dear Michael,

Of *course* I take Dottie seriously!  I adore cottontails, and two brothers live with us in our backyard sanctuary.  They are amazing, brilliant little souls.

Yes, the stress of capture and handling is something to consider, especially if she seems to be acting better.  It's a tough call, because the larva *should* drop out when mature, and under normal circumstances, there should be no infection.  I know from my own cotties that they have *incredible* immune systems.  Much stronger than domestic rabbits or jackrabbits.

But whatever you do, I know it will be the right thing by Dottie.  Good luck, and take care!

Dana