A sad turn around......

For two weeks I had not seen any sign of the vixen. She always came first, around three in the afternoon and will wait for me to put out the food , hiding in the bushes. I was beginning to worry as the more I studied the photos , the more I thought she had mange as could not see fur underneath the shedding coat. I had contacted the National Welfare for Foxes and they sent me some arsnicum sulphate, four drops on a piece of bread for about four weeks . This was the recommended dose and would make her skin healthy and stop the itching although it does not directly kill the mites, simply makes the skin less desirable for them to burrow, since they do this in 'moulting pockets' in the coat.
When she finally showed up one afternoon, starving, emaciated and extremely thirsty ,I was totally shocked. This mange had really got a hold. Her head was shaking , her eyes streaming (conjunctivitis is inevitable) and her coat was about thirty percent affected. I immediately got in touch with fox welfare again, who after checking I had enough treatment (This is free from them if you send a photo of the fox you think has it) I explained that she had also been limping and had a huge open sore on her leg. Apparently they will literally bite out the female mite, and this is what she had done. It was recommended that I gave her drontal, a dog wormer, which I managed to do for both foxes, as the vixen feeds mostly on the sett and the dog at the back. Luckily this worked well the first time. My partner suggested putting the tablet in a veggie sausage! This worked perfectly! The dog fox ate his at the back, and she gulped hers down at the front of the sett. They both ate a small peanut butter sandwich with the drops of arsnicum on. First job done!