LEXI Reeves is a 3 year old Chihuahua living in Basildon. On Monday night at around 9pm she was out in the back garden when her owner Vicky heard her bark. She went out and looked down the side alley to see Lexi cowering by the gate with a fox near her. The fox then jumped up onto the BBQ, over the side gate and started to try to drag Lexi through the gap in the gate. Poor Lexi was crying out and Vicky grabbed her, trying to stop her being pulled through.
The fox, about the size of a small German Shepherd, finally let go so that Lexi could be scooped up and brought indoors.
A quick examination revealed blood around her neck and she was rushed to Cherrydown Vets in Basildon.
Fortunately they have a 24 hour emergency service and she was immediately seen by our vet Kevin. Lexi had a large laceration to the left side of her neck with damage around the jugular and other major structures. The wound was extremely deep and was virtually through to her trachea.
Following surgery, Lexi was closely monitored around the clock and finally left to go home today. The photos show her a few hours after surgery still attached to a monitor. Lexi was very lucky and owners of smaller pets need to be aware of the danger if foxes are able to get into their gardens.
Foxes are ever present and live comfortably among us. The introduction of the large wheelie bins has made it more difficult for them to scavenge for food from our rubbish, so now they sometimes turn elsewhere. If you have a small animal, whether it be a rabbit, dog or cat, then please take care if you have foxes living nearby that are able to get into your garden!
At Cherrydown Vets in Basildon, Stanford-Le-Hope and Wickford, your pets are treated as one of the family and their health and well -being is their number one priority. Led by Director Jonathan Nurse, their experienced vets make sure your special friends get the best possible treatment. With their own dedicated nursing team on site 24 hours a day, you can be assured your pet’s every need is catered for, especially in emergencies like the above!
www.cherrydownvets.co.uk
I hope the vet paid advertising fees for that article! Seriously though, there has been a big rise in Urban foxes over the past few years. They are all over the place in Ockendon, I see them regularly. They probably are a threat to smaller domestic pets.
unfortunatley these types of incidents will contuinue to rise, the urban fox population has risen due to the amount of houses being erected across the country, this is having a big effect on natural habitat of all wild animals, foxes will scavenge for food near homes as their natural food is being displaced, humans are changing the natural balance of the world, as they say you reap what you sow.