Images of screwworm infestations in newly born kittens, ferrets and rabbits before 1966 still bring nightmares. Clear are the memories of tiny, near-hairless, days-old animals lying across my palm while we systematically removed screw worms from holes nearly the size of a pencil eraser.
Fly control product stations were everywhere on our farm. We bought ducks to help clean up any maggots in manure below pens. Obligatory myiasis was not a term familiar to us, but we did know these flies sought out our newborn animals as hosts for their eggs and larvae.
Jennifer E. Thomas, DVM, and Mason V. Reichard, MS, PhD, offer a clinical overview of obligatory and facultative myiasis with good photographs in this article.
Source: Veterinary Team Brief, May 2018, page 33. Link.
Preventing myiasis in dogs and cats includes keeping wounds clean, treating underlying medical conditions, housing weak and debilitated patients indoors or in screened enclosures, and maintaining a health hair coat free of mats, urine and feces.