Sick fox in the garden

desertgecko · #1 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 12:48 PM

Hi all, sorry if this is in the wrong place. We have a sick fox in our garden. We've just spotted him drinking out of our pond, then we saw the state of him. He has hardly any fur on his back and tail, mange?, and can barely walk, he's limping on his back legs. He has now curled up under some bushes in the garden.

We've phoned our local wildlife rescue org but we could only leave a message. There's no guarantee they will come out or even phone us back. Who else could we phone? Would the rspca deal with it? We don't know what to do, we can't ignore the poor thing.

Thanks for any advice.

Words · #2 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 01:00 PM

It does sound like mange. If it's severe the fox may need professional help so you were right to call your local wildlife rescue centre. Not sure where you are in the South East but here are some additional links of rescue centres that may be able to help. Scroll down the page.

RangerSarah · #3 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 01:22 PM

The RSPCA will help, but they will ask you to take it to your local vet. You will need a reference number to give to the vet. It is worth staying with the fox while the vet examines it and insisting that they only put it down if it essential to do so. A lot of vets just put wildlife down without trying to save them. The RSPCA should then arrange for the fox to go to a rescue centre.

Just make sure that the fox doesn't bite you when you pick it up!

Good luck.

Jim Ford · #4 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 01:50 PM

I believe you can leave suitably medicated food for the condition you describe.

(I currently don't have much sympathy for foxes - one took our second from last bantam yesterday!)

Jim

squeek · #5 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 06:45 PM

pls dont rely on the RSPCA, we had a bad experience with them, and the baby bird in our care had to wait over 17 hrs for them to arrive by which time he got weak and died in their van on the way to the vets. they didnt even take him to a local vet, they drove him for over three quaters of an hour, it was just all too long for him. he was newly hatched and needed someone experienced to feed him ( we didnt know how to

) he was healthy all throughout the time we had him, tweeting away.
also be aware that a vet may well try and put the fox down, many vets do this with wildlife. so as mentioned above by RangerSarah,pls insist they dont put it down.

i know of a site you can find info on and depending where you live they will come out and help NFWS Fox Rescue and Sarcoptic Mange Information Site-We also supply mange treatment for foxes suffering from Sarcoptic Mange known also as Canine Mange and Fox Mange

whishing you best of luck

eeyore · #6 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

I believe you can leave suitably medicated food for the condition you describe.

(I currently don't have much sympathy for foxes - one took our second from last bantam yesterday!)

Jim

you can indeed - but its best to check with a vet first to ensure you are medicating for the right condition. Also make sure you get a propper medical treatment to add to the bait as there are a lot of "homoeopathic" remedies available on the net most of which have no proven value in the treatment of sarcoptic mange.

Jim Ford · #7 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eeyore

there are a lot of "homoeopathic" remedies available on the net most of which have no proven value in the treatment of sarcoptic mange.

.... or any other illness - animal or human!

Jim

eeyore · #8 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

.... or any other illness - animal or human!

Jim

well quite - i just didnt want to take this thread off topic

Back to the fox the NFWS will send out treament free of charge to householders willing to feed it to foxes with sarcoptic mange - tho they ask for a voluntary donation if you can afford it, as they are reliant on such for funding

wildliferescuer · #9 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 09:41 PM

In our experience, the homeopathic treatment for sarcoptic mange does not work. There is a treatment that has to be prescribed by a vet but it can be put in food & we have has a 100% success rate with it (treating many dozens of foxes with mange).
If you are interested in the details, please pm me.

eeyore · #10 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildliferescuer

In our experience, the homeopathic treatment for sarcoptic mange does not work. There is a treatment that has to be prescribed by a vet but it can be put in food & we have has a 100% success rate with it (treating many dozens of foxes with mange).
If you are interested in the details, please pm me.

are you saying that the NFWS treatment is a homeopathic one ? - I wasnt aware of that but if so i'd concur with you that homepathic remedies for mange dont cut it

with a fox in the condition that the OP describes would food based medical remedies be sufficient or would it be better to catch/trap it for more advanced treatment at a wildlife rescue centre - i'm leaning towards giving the the latter advice but would be interested in your opinion as you obviously know more about this subject

wildliferescuer · #11 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 10:18 PM

I may be wrong, but as far as I am aware the NFWS do use a homeopathic treatment although it is widely recognised now that Stronghold (spot-on treatment for parasites on dogs) can be given orally to foxes with mange via their food. We have been using it for about 9 years with very impressive results.
This treatment is only suitable if mange is in its initial stages, before open, infected lesions develop on the fox. In these cases then yes, you are right, the fox would have to be trapped & taken in for more intensive treatment including antibiotics.

eeyore · #12 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgecko

He has hardly any fur on his back and tail, mange?, and can barely walk, he's limping on his back legs. He has now curled up under some bushes in the garden.
.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildliferescuer

This treatment is only suitable if mange is in its initial stages, before open, infected lesions develop on the fox. In these cases then yes, you are right, the fox would have to be trapped & taken in for more intensive treatment including antibiotics.

given that this one can barely walk i think its fair to say that its condition is fairly advanced - therefore its probably best to have it taken to a wildlife rescue centre

if the one you called doesnt phone back gecko you could call a different one (there is a link to a map on the wab front page with hundreds) - and failing that you could try the RSPCA - i dont know where you are in the south east bu my experience of the bucks rspca is pretty positive - they work quite closely with tiggywinkles near haddenham and are fairly responsive to wildlife so the bad experience one member describes above isnt necessarily representative.

If you fo decide to catch the fox and take it in yourself be careful - a) even an ill fox can inflict a nasty bite and b) sarcoptic mange is ( i think ) parasitic and you dont want to transfer it on your hands to any domestic pet.

I would tend to wear thick gloves and use an old coat or blanket as a barrier - throw it over the fox then pick it up and transport in a stout box or crate - best to get advice from the rescue centre first and also phone ahead so they expect you

Jim Ford · #13 (**permalink**) 18-10-2009, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eeyore

are you saying that the NFWS treatment is a homeopathic one ? - I wasnt aware of that but if so i'd concur with you that homepathic remedies for mange dont cut it

You probably need to actually _tell_ the fox that it's receiving medication with the homeopathic remedy!
;^)

Jim