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Australian vets treat anteater for ant allergy
Ants are an echidna’s main source of food.
Echidna in recovery after receiving allergen-specific vaccine

Vets and keepers at a zoo in Australia are celebrating after successfully treating an echidna who was found to be allergic to ants.

Ants are an echidna’s main source of food, so staff at Healesville Sanctuary, Victoria, were surprised when one of their spiny residents had an unusual reaction to them.

The echidna, named Matilda, was first presented to the sanctuary in 2010 after she was accidentally dug up from her burrow. Thought to be around three months old, she would have just started eating termites and ants.

Keepers became surrogates to Matilda as she had not been weaned, and she soon settled into her new environment. But at two years old, the skin around her eyes started to look a little inflamed.

The keepers provided topical treatments and cleaned the eyes but, after a noticeable spread of the inflammation, Matilda was transferred to the Melbourne Veterinary Specialist Centre for allergy testing.

To determine the cause of the inflammation, specialists injected a range of know antigens under Matilda’s skin and observed her for reactions. Once ants were identified as the cause, specialists got to work on developing an allergen-specific vaccine that was unique to her. She then underwent a period of ‘desensitisation’.

‘Matilda’s treatment plan required her vaccine to be given in small, regular doses, exposing her to enough of the allergen to cause an immune response but not so much that it would cause an adverse reaction,’ a spokesperson for Healesville Sanctuary explains. ‘In short, Matilda’s immune system was being trained to learn how to manage and respond to the identified allergens.

‘While time-consuming, this process of desensitisation has been highly effective and become a lifelong solution for Matilda’s allergies.’

Matilda responded well to the treatment and has now been vaccine-free for six months. Thought to be the world’s first allergic echidna, keepers are optimistic that she will now go on to live a long and allergy-free life.

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Practices urged to audit neutering data

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has called on vet practices to audit their post-operative neutering outcomes.

It follows the release of the 2024 NASAN benchmarking report, which collates data from neutering procedures performed on dogs, cats and rabbits.

The benchmarking report enables practices in the UK and Ireland to compare their post-operative outcomes to the national average. This includes the rate of patients lost to follow-up, which in 2024 increased to 23 per cent.

Anyone from the practice can submit the data using a free template. The deadline for next report is February 2026.

Visit the RCVS Knowledge website to complete an audit. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
RCVS pays tribute to well-loved equine vet

The RCVS and the Riding Establishments Subcommittee has paid tribute to well-loved veterinary surgeon and riding establishment inspector, Rebecca Hamilton-Fletcher MRCVS.

Linda Belton MRCVS, RCVS President, said: "I, along with my colleagues on the RESC, RCVS Council, RCVS Standards Committee, as well as RCVS staff, was very saddened to hear of the sudden death of Rebecca, or Becca as we knew her, last week.

"She was a true advocate for equine welfare and in her many years on the RESC worked to continually improve the quality and consistency of riding establishment inspections, all in the interests of enhanced horse welfare and rider safety."