Giving a Fox Mange Medicine

Most of the time I feed cats and small animals, but sometimes also wildlife. I'm always happy to feed birds, hedgehogs, squirrels and foxes. This blog talks about the time I got more than I expected - needing to give medicine to a fox.

When I do cat visits I often get asked to feed wildlife too. It's no trouble for me and I always like to feed any animals in their normal routine. Wild animals know where they usually find their food and appear regularly.

Previously, I've only seen foxes when driving early in the morning or late at night. I don’t know much about foxes at all. Now my knowledge has expanded thanks to Mrs Fox who I see at a house I visit. (I call her Mrs Fox as I don’t want to give her a name and get attached to her.) The house is in an area with lots of gardens and trees; I see a lot of foxes there but this is the only one that has stayed around for a few months.

Fox with Mange

The female fox appeared regularly for food but then she started to loose fur as well as scratching herself a lot. I sent a photo to one of my clients who I knew was experienced with foxes. She said it looked like mange and to contact Wirral Fox Rescue. (I can't find a photo, but in the later stages with it, her face was sore and scabby too.)

Fox mange is caused by a mite which causes itchiness and then hair loss from all the scratching. Then with continued scratching, the skin goes red and scabby. It can be spread easily to other foxes and dogs. Fortunately fox mange doesn't get passed to cats.

The Wirral Fox Rescue said that they could give me some medicine for her if I could be sure that only she would eat it. As she was poorly she was hanging around a lot, I thought this would be possible. My very kind husband was able to pick up the medicine for me. It was typical that when I had the medicine, I didn't see her for a few days.

Giving the Fox Mange Medication

Oh my goodness. Giving the fox her medication wasn’t easy. My first mistake was to think she would eat her food and gulp it all down.

It was a very trying process, to give this fox medicine for mange. Unfortunately it took several days as she was able to filter feed it out of the food. I even performed surgery on the dog food to try and hide it inside, raw cat food, pill putty for cats, and in the end it was in a different type of raw meat that was delicious apparently. The tablet was very soggy so I hoped it would be efficient still.

A few days later I had to give her a wormer. This time I broke the tablet in half so it was harder for her to taste. I made sure I hid it well in her favourite raw meat so had hoped it would go in easier. I only had to hide one of the pieces a second time.

The fox was getting used to me popping out with food. I was a bit worried she wouldn't be frightened of humans. But when I'd stopped trying to give her the medicine and nipping out with it in food regularly, she was more wary of me. Plus as she started to feel better, she was more active and was off visiting other places.

Fox Recovery

After revisiting the house three months later, I was pleased to see that the fox was still around and that her fur had grown back. There is a clear line on her back between the old and new fur growth. Also her face and skin looked so much better.

She looks like she is feeling better in herself as she is more active - even chasing flying insects. I've seen her going to more gardens rather than just staying in the same place.

Although if the weather is nice, she comes out to sleep in the sun. On cloudy days, I may not see her until she comes for food in the evening.

Happy News of Fox Cubs!

While visiting this time, she looked as though she was feeding cubs. Half way through my stay, I saw her with a cub! It was a very sunny and warm day. The little one was chasing blossom before jumping on mum. She couldn’t rest as she was listening out for him.

Mum fox is seen on and off during the day but I didn't see her cub again. Mum came in the evening for food and after she had eaten well, she took some off. I did see her burying food in the flower pots as well. I'm sure the owners will keep me updated with any news.

You can see a little clip on my Instagram page here.

The cat I was looking after, would very much like to see her close up. He senses when she is around and jumps off to look outside before I see her. Then he runs between the windows hoping to catch her.