A wolf worm: A large maggot, light tan, and a brown
spot on the end. Size is about half of a dime. This fat parasite is the larvae
of the bot fly and will eventually hatch into an adult bot fly…
Primarily in South America, Africa—and
southern United States. Once the wolf worm has infected its host, it will form
a hole inside the host’s skin. The larva can breathe through this hole.
The Rocky cat was out for
less than an hour.
I was hoping when we moved to
the country he would enjoy playing in the grass, chasing birds, etc. The first
couple of days, he didn’t hit it off so well with the neighbor cats that are
used to, and have been raised in, the wild. So, I kept him close and in his
yard. Two day ago, playing and training Mello the dog, I lost track of Rocky
for less than an hour.
The next day I noticed him
licking his shoulder and I found a tiny, tiny pin-sized hole. The first thought
was that he obviously got into it with one of the cats and a claw got him. I
cleaned it with peroxide and went on my way. The next day he continued to lick,
I cleaned with peroxide and he licked some more—until there was no hair around
the hole. It wasn’t discolored but it emitted a terrible odor. The next thought
was that maybe he chased one of the chickens and it pecked him. I cleaned with
peroxide and he licked.
Now, the third day, the
licking is serious and the area around this tiny pin-hole is hardened. Talking
to a few friends about and one says, “Oh, that’s a wolf.” A wolf,” I thought, “A wolf
wouldn’t bite a cat. A wolf would eat a cat.”
“A wolf?” I asked.
 |
| It was hard to get a 'clear' pic, as you might imagine |
“Yeah,” she said, “A wolf
worm. Cats get them around here.”
So I went home and of course,
looked it up on line. A wolf worm or screw worm is a fly larvae, normally
around and in livestock. We have cattle about a mile over but I doubted Rocky
got there and backin less than an hour. They’re also found in rabbit holes. That made more sense. He probably chased
a rabbit and stuck his nose where it shouldn’t be.
The treatment? A warm
compress and squeeze, gently so as not to mash the worm in two, and then pull
it out with tweezers when it pops its little brown head out. Rocky took off
when I just started running the water. Off to the vet.
Upon examination, the vet and
his assistant determine that it is not a wolf worm, rather a wound that has abscessed. One anti-biotic shot and rabies shot later I’m packing Rocky back
into the carrier when the head vet walks in.
“What do we have here?” he
inquires.
“She thought he had a wolf
worm but it’s just an abscessed wound. Want to take a look?”
“Yeah.”
So, Rocky comes back out of
the carrier and proceeds to be tortured by a very southern vet.
“Yep, she’s right. It’s a
wolf worm. Did you get it out?”
“Nooo,” I whine, “he said it
wasn’t,” as I pointed accusingly at the offending vet.
Out come the over-size
tweezers that plummet, not gently, into Rocky’s shoulder, once, twice, thrice
without successful removal of anything.
“Did you put something in
there to kill it?” he asks.
“Just peroxide,” I answer
“Yep, it’s dead.”
“Well, I did good then.”
“Nope, not really.”
Out comes the over-sized
q-tip with anti-biotic cream on the end which then also plummets 2 inches into Rocky’s shoulder.
Equipped with instructions to
continue cleaning and administering liquid anti-biotics, I head out to pay.
“We thought he was working on
you,” laughed the clerk.
Ha-ha!! Yeah, I was oohing and ahhing quite loudly in support of the Rocky cat. So?
I can say though that
Copper Basin Vet will be our vet from here on out. He knew exactly what was up
and handled it quite efficiently. All the medications, visit, and shots cost
were $45, which would have been easily $300 in Chicago. Needless to say, Rocky
is back to being a fat, lazy housecat who only dreams of chasing rabbits.
And, if you look closely, you can see the healing wound on his shoulder. Yuck and Yikes!!
