Lippy the Fox

[sumbody]

Let me introduce you to Lippy the Fox (named for obvious reasons)

I first saw him last May sitting on the garden wall of a house over the back From this picture I first noticed his dodgy lip



I didnt see him again until late February this year when he ran through the garden. This picture is 1st March when I first gave him homeopathic remedy. Here you can clearly see the mouth injury - and there are no lower front teeth. You can also see the sores on his tail where he has been biting. Sorry if this is upsetting, but it might be of use to some who haven't seen it. He was also bald on his paws and ankles upwards.



After a month of extra food and various homeopathics here he is today. His eyes are still a bit weepy - but not every day - and nothing like they were. Probably a bit of "sleep" in his eye You can see here the tail is growing back - even though it is a bit short where he chewed the end off - if and when it all grows bushy again he probably won't have the white tip.



He has taken to waiting for me in the morning to come out and feed. and he eating much much better. I probably started treated him before this got too bad. I know it isn't a cure - but I have read that foxes can live with low levels of mites and most actually do. Let's hope this is right.

[RobinP]

Lovely story, thanks for sharing

Hope he/she continues to improve.

[Tracey.A]

It looks like what ever you are doing to help him is working His tail looks much better in the last picture. Poor chap looked pretty awful in the earlier pics. Hope he continues to improve. Thanks for sharing this

Tracey

[Malx]

Not a healthy chap, poor lad, but you've certainly helped him a lot! Has his hind-quarters been hit by a car or something? The back legs don't look comfortable, and I suppose the tail could have been damaged then too. Could use a drop or two of Optrex, certainly! His coat is less luxuriant than last May, and the colours less vibrant, though I guess Winter accounts for some of that.
Would love to hear a diagnosis from one of the experts on here though.

Hope his luck continues to improve.

[dave midi]

Lippy is gorgeous. Good on ya, sumbody for all the help, and good luck to you.

[aland]

Hi somebody, you have just made my day, it is so nice to know that folk can be so kind, good pics and this creature knows just where he is better off, animals are not so silly, have a good day.

[Words]

One of the risks of mange is secondary infection in the lesions and with luck he will have avoided those. He certainly looks like he is improving in your care, so hopefully he will make a full recovery over the next few weeks.

Just as a side note, there are two variants of mange (sarcoptic mange and demodectic mange). Demodectic is less serious, and I suspect its this form that foxes are more able to cope with without treatment (it can often be relatively isolated to parts of the body).

[sumbody]

Originally Posted by Malx

Has his hind-quarters been hit by a car or something? The back legs don't look comfortable, and I suppose the tail could have been damaged then too.
Hope his luck continues to improve.

Well I did wonder if he had been hit by a car at some point - he has a limp (sometimes) on his back right leg - seems to limp more when running on the grass and he sometimes holds it up. A wildlife man came to deliver some homeopathic and had a quick look at him (because he runs if there is anyone with me) - and thought it might be rheumatism from an old injury (bless) - he is getting arnica tablets now for the last 3 days so I am hoping these will help.

At first he was unable to sit down (because of the sore tail I assumed) and I have read that a hunched appearance is a symptom of mange, as is limping and holding up the leg.

I too hope he improves and I can't wait to see his tail back to how it was last May

[Words]

Just about every fox I've ever seen develops a limp at some point. The Bristol researchers found that in foxes over 5 years old some 70% had fractured a bone at some stage in their life. They are remarkably resilient though.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by sumbody

This picture is 1st March when I first gave him homeopathic remedy.

Why give an animal homeopathic 'medication' when such 'remedies' rely wholly on the placebo effect - where the 'medicated' believes they are receiving an effective remedy?

Jim