such bitey, very aggression, much unusual, wow. nature essentially hates me and is undergoing some extensive tests and treatment (see below for full details).
Nature's story
Transferred from another rescue to my care, the only reason she was in the care of the other rescue is someone reported her to be “friendly” so the rescue tested her for toxoplasma gondii exposure (a parasite). Her result came back what they believed positive (IgG 50, IgM <20). I suspected this was a negative result and called a specialist at IDEXX to discuss on detail and there were no concerns regarding the result. The original rescue were considering release despite assuming a positive toxoplasma result but toxoplasma gondii, even if inactive can reactive if the patient becomes immunosuppressed, which is common in urban foxes. For that reason (and see sources below to show why) foxes exposed to toxoplasma, even if exhibiting no clinical signs, should not be released back to the wild and should be allowed to live out life in a sanctuary or safety. This isn’t meant to make the other rescue look bad, and therefore no names are mentioned, it is a common mistake many fox rescues make and I’m happy to help those and explain to anyone, it’s important toxoplasma is properly understood by fox rescues and sadly I have discovered it really isn’t.
she was going to be euthanised by their welfare officers due to the misinterpretation of toxoplasma result and if they hadn’t transferrwd to me unofficially, this fox would have been killed on the basis they thought she had toxo exposure. Turns out she doesn’t, so it’s a good mistake, and she is alive as a result of it.
Side note: friendliness is not a symptom of toxoplasmosis, that’s a myth. “Friendliness” or more accurately tolerance to human contact, is usually a personality trait that the fox already had, the toxo result being positive is generally coincidence, you only gain this knowledge through constant interaction with wild foxes in close proximity and volume. This fox is the opposite of friendly.
That being said, I had other concerns about her. She had a couple of self created gnaw areas on her joints and hadn’t eaten since the day of intake for 72 hours so I booked her into the vets. It’s not uncommon for a new patient to refuse food for 24-48 hours out of change of environment and uncertainty but she continued.
Foxes mask pain and symptoms well so to be safe I wanted to run tests to see if there was another reason she wasn’t eating.
Bloods came back problematic and she is now undergoing treatment.
Indications:
Biochemistry:
Phos - low
Urea - high
Creatinine - high
Creatine Kinase - extremely high at 16,361 (normal range is between 37 & 131).
AST - very high
ALT - above normal range
Haematology:
Red & White Blood Cells - high
MCV & MCH - low
Neutrophils & Monocytes - high
Slight anisocytosis.
Neospora serology - negative
Toxoplasma serology - negative (IgG <50, IgM <20)
Treatment:
gabapentin 100mg
antibiotics
Instagram Post Links:
become a sponsor?
All of the residents can be sponsored, you can go to the sponsor page to find out more. Sponsoring a fox helps towards their general daily care. Some foxes need more than others depending on their disability, injury, post-surgery requirements or condition. To find out more, go here.