Fox Cub Update

The fox cubs are now 11 days old but sadly we now only have two remaining. Since they came in they have had one problem after another, mainly due to them being left in the cold & wet for so long during their first 24 hours. We also don't know whether or not they received the all-important colostrum from the vixen after they were born. Without this baby mammals are highly susceptible to all infections as they have not received the necessary antibodies to fight off bacteria.

Unfortunately we lost one of the cubs suddenly after a couple of days. It was unexpected as they seemed to be doing well, but this one obviously had internal problems that we were not aware of.

The next set back was that the remaining cubs all developed chest infections &, although we were loath to put them onto antibiotics at their young age, we ended up with no choice as the infection would have killed them without it. We gave them a four day course of the minutest amount of antibiotic, which worked well, but then they developed diarrhoea as a result. Being so tiny they were then at great risk of dehydration because of this so we had to start them on subcutaneous injections of fluids to counteract this.

Despite receiving hourly intensive treatment from dedicated staff, a third cub died yesterday, leaving the remaining 2 which are making good progress at the time of writing. They will open their eyes any day now, which is another of their milestones. Fox cubs eyes are blue when they first open but change to their adult amber colour when they are around four to five weeks old.

I hope to post new pictures here shortly & will write another update soon.....

First Fox Cubs of 2008

On Sunday 16 March the RSPCA brought in the first fox cubs of the year. Five tiny cubs, less than 24 hours old were brought in after being found under a garden hedge. They had been left all day and by the time they were picked up they were freezing cold and we doubted that they would survive the night. Four of them weighed around 100 grams each which is the average weight for fox cubs, but the fifth one only weighed 58 grams and he sadly died the next day.

Since then, one more has died but the other three are feeding well and gaining good weight. During the day the cubs can be seen on our webcam (accessible from a link on the left of our website homepage), but as they need regular feeding throughout the evening and night, they are being taken home by a member of staff and therefore cannot be viewed at night.

Check back for updates.....

Getting Busier....

We are here to deal with any British wildlife in need of our help & we are available 24 hours a day for large mammals i.e. badgers, foxes & deer. A majority of these larger animals get into trouble during the hours of darkness as this is the time that they are most active although we might get one or two foxes or deer in the day time in the space of a week.

Thursday was, I hope, an exception to this as, during the day, one badger, 3 foxes, one feral pigeon, one woodpigeon, one song thrush, one collared dove and one roe deer were admitted to the Hospital! Five large mammals in a day!

We have certainly been busier so far this year than for the same period in previous years, and we have received many more calls than usual concerning the larger animals. We are also getting an increasing number of calls concerning mange in foxes again. The numbers seemed to be dropping but lately the numbers of foxes suffering from this nasty problem is on the increase again. These days mange is easily treatable with a drug put in food for the affected foxes and most people are happy to work with us to get rid of mange without putting the fox through the stress of catching it and bringing it back to the Centre to treat.

Left untreated, mange, which is caused by a mite burrowing under the skin, can often eventually kill the poor animal. The intense itching caused by the mites leads to non-stop scratching which eventually causes sores which then become infected. While all this is going on the fox doesn't manage to hunt properly and becomes emaciated, eventually either dying of starvation or of septicaemia.

Anyone who has seen an animal suffering from advanced mange will know just how much pain and suffering these microscopic mites can cause.