One thing I do not like to do but it comes with the job (an unpaid job I ought to add) is reading through the post mortem reports on foxes submitted after being found under unusual or suspicious circumstances. This includes going over the photographs to understand what the pathologist is describing.
Although PM Services can be a pain to get responses from the vet carrying out all of the post mortems has been very thorough and answered any questions I have asked. It may be his job but he deserves thanks for the work put in.
I have omitted a lot of the technical jargon and just present the summary and conclusion. With fox no. 5 it is assumed what the cause of death was and is nothing unusual. With a third fox submitted with (apparent) jaundice it will be interesting to see what conclusions come from that one.
Date Received 03/09/21
Date Necropsy 09/09/21
Species Red Fox
(Vulpes vulpes)
Age Juvenile
Sample Carcase X 1
Clinical History:
There have been reports of numbers of dead foxes being found
in the
is suggested that they may have been deliberately killed
with some possibly
poisoned but disease has not been ruled out. Natural
they have declined to investigate at present. This fox is
from Shirehampton, and was
seen to be okay the night before but collapsed next day (02-09-21)
and died soon
after (#48538).
Specimen Details:
Comment:
There was no evidence of trauma or anything obvious that
might suggest poisoning.
There also was no evidence of bacterial septicaemia. The
jaundice is obviously
significant and two of the three foxes that were suitable
for examination were
jaundiced. Were these foxes from the same area? The E/M and
histology samples
from the previous case (WNDS 05-08-21) are still being
processed. The results from
them may be an indication of the cause of disease in this fox
Date Received 03/09/21
Date Necropsy 09/09/21
Species Red Fox
(Vulpes vulpes)
Age Adult
Sample Carcase X 1
Clinical History:
There have been reports of numbers of dead foxes being found
in the
is suggested that they may have been deliberately killed
with some possibly
poisoned but disease has not been ruled out. Natural
have declined to investigate at present. This fox was from
was taken to local PVS as had nervous signs and was pts.
Specimen Details:
Dead/Frozen
Comment:
These findings could indicate two possible causes for the
clinical signs seen in this
fox.
Trauma;
This fox was possibly hit by a car resulting in internal
haemorrhage and bleeding
from the left ear and grossly unrecognisable brain damage.
It didn’t die but was
unable to find food due to its clinical condition before
being seen and pts by a local
vet.
Bacterial Menigitis;
The excess bloody fluid in thoracic and abdominal cavities
and gross evidence of
liver damage may be PM artefacts. There were no significant
bacterial findings from
systemic sites. However Streptococcus canis was isolated
from the brain stem. This
can be a normal gut commensal but it has been isolated from
cases of otitis externa
and from meningitis in dogs. Therefore tracking from the
external part of the ear to
the brain may have occurred, however there was no gross
evidence of inner ear
infection. As Streptococcus canis can be a normal commensal
bacteria its isolation
may just represent post mortem contamination especially as
it was not isolated in
purity and profusion.
Brain histopathology providing there isn’t too much
freeze/thaw changes will
hopefully indicate the likely diagnosis. However I would
suspect that, unfortunately
this another case of trauma probably RTA. There were no
findings suggestive of
poisoning.
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