Cuterebra removal: vet surgically removes two huge fly larva from tiny kitten’s body - TomoNews
- 7 years ago
FLORENCE, KENTUCKY — A kitten in Kentucky suffering from bugs under her skin is lucky to finally be free of them, with the entire procedure being captured in a animal surgery video that’s attracting the morbid attention of the internet.
The video, shot on January 6 and released this week, shows a veterinarian using a surgical instrument to very carefully and gently pull out a couple of cuterebra, which are parasites whose eggs find their way onto the bodies of cute little animals by detecting heat. When they hatch, they then get cozy underneath the animal’s skin and live there for a while. Through their maturation process, the larva will grow to roughly the size of the first joint of a person’s thumb.
After about a month, the cuterebra larva then makes their away off the host, hopping down to the ground to pupate, and eventually becoming botflies.
The kitten is reportedly doing fine post-surgery, and will hopefully live a bug-free live from here on out.
The video, shot on January 6 and released this week, shows a veterinarian using a surgical instrument to very carefully and gently pull out a couple of cuterebra, which are parasites whose eggs find their way onto the bodies of cute little animals by detecting heat. When they hatch, they then get cozy underneath the animal’s skin and live there for a while. Through their maturation process, the larva will grow to roughly the size of the first joint of a person’s thumb.
After about a month, the cuterebra larva then makes their away off the host, hopping down to the ground to pupate, and eventually becoming botflies.
The kitten is reportedly doing fine post-surgery, and will hopefully live a bug-free live from here on out.