Perris and Possum, thank you both so much for your replies and I'm so sorry that I've not replied before now.
It's been a very sad few days as, after my last post, a huge wound opened up overnight, just above her vent and we rushed her to the emergency vets on the Sunday morning. The vet advised us that the wound had been caused by flystrike and very sadly, we had to make the tough decision to have Veronica put to sleep.
The vet pulled out the material from her vent and it did turn out to be an egg that she had laid internally. The vet thought it might have been inside her for a while as it was so compacted and difficult even for the vet to pull out. I know that I would not have been able to pull that hard, for fear of really hurting her.
It was all such a shock as, although not herself, she had still been fairly perky and there was no sign of a wound there at all on the Saturday. It all happened frighteningly quickly.
There have been lots of tears shed this week and the other girls and I really miss Veronica's inquisitive nature and busy little ways as she went about her day.
A bit more knowledge has been gained though in my quest to give these lovely little ex-bats some true happiness in their twilight years....
Thank you again for your responses, I really appreciated your thoughts and help xx