Flystrike (myiasis) is a potentially fatal condition in which blowflies lay eggs on rabbits, and the resulting maggots eat into living tissue. It can kill a rabbit within hours and is largely preventable.
Flystrike causes extreme suffering: maggots eat into living tissue causing pain, shock and rapid organ failure. Affected rabbits often hide illness until severely compromised - by the time signs are visible, the condition is an emergency. Treatment requires urgent veterinary attention, sedation or anaesthesia for cleaning, and often carries a guarded to poor prognosis. The welfare case for prevention is overwhelming: twice-daily checking takes two minutes and catches the condition at an earlier, treatable stage. Preventive insecticide treatment during high-risk months is a straightforward welfare investment that dramatically reduces the probability of this devastating condition.