Beating Mites...

[Jenk]

Long story short: Our adopted bun brought mites into our home; the type of mite hasn't been discovered.

All four of our animals (three buns, one cat) were given three (monthly) Revolution doses, which was the wrong protocol. So we upped the administration to every 14 days'. (They've now had four treatments at this rate--which means they've had Revolution seven times total. )

Just two days' before their most recent dose, they started scratching/head shaking noticeably again.

I want to lick this problem, which started back in late Sept. '08. Should we bomb our house, too? Is there something that we should be putting on the rabbits besides Revolution (e.g., some shampoo, Green Kleen, etc.)?

Many online stories detail people's ongoing woes with mites (some of which lasted for years). I don't want that to be the case, and I don't want to keep giving such a potent drug to my animals. But until this issue is overcome, I haven't much choice.

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[Flashy]

Are you treating your environment too? Is Advantage better for all round treatment? I'm asking in general there, not specifically you Jenk.

Also, is it possible that because of your rabbits gut problems they are run down and thus not fighting as a bun might normally?

 

[Jenk]

Flashy wrote:

Are you treating your environment too?

Technically, we treated it once with Vir-Bac; never again. It was a waste of time and money. We're now talking about having a professional come in and spray/bomb the house at least once (possibly twice).

Is Advantage better for all round treatment? I'm asking in general there, not specifically you Jenk.

Can it be given to rabbits? I didn't think that it could.

Also, is it possible that because of your rabbits gut problems they are run down and thus not fighting as a bun might normally?

Anything is possible, but I don't think that's the case. Here's why: My parents' house has been affected. (They got the mites from my house before the animals started showing symptoms.) Their dog and cat were badly affected; both are in good health. My parents have been horribly affected due to their suppressed immune systems.

Whatever this mite is (and it could be more than one type, even), it seems to be fairly tenacious. A skin scraping on Pink revealed nothing. I'm waiting to see if his skin biopsy reveals anything. My mom had her dog scrapped twice; nothing showed. She was scraped once; nothing showed. Her skin biopsy revealed no mites but did indicate that she's being bitten by them.

 

[Flashy]

Are you sure it's am mite? What about fleas?

Yes, they can have Advantage, but not Frontline. NEVER Frontline.

Can I ask what the symptoms are? It may be something really obscure that maybe someone on here has come across.

 

[Becknutt]

From my personal experiance I've had good luck with Revolution. We had 2 rabbits, and the dog get infected.I cleaned the rabbit area thouroughly with vinagar, and used a carpet powder in the rest of the house. The ear mites did not return.

If they are still head shaking, you can drop olive oil into their ears. I used a cotton ball and just rubbed it on, letting the drips run down. The oil will smother the mites, and also sooth their ears.

Mites are not fun, I wish I could be more helpful.

 

[Jenk]

Flashy wrote:

Are you sure it's am mite? What about fleas?

Pretty certain it's not fleas; they'd have become noticeable (visable) long before now. The vet also twice checked over Pink's body; no signs of fleas.

Can I ask what the symptoms are? It may be something really obscure that maybe someone on here has come across.

Excessive scratching, mostly around the ears, base of the ears, eyes and muzzle areas. Head shaking, too. But no gunk/irritation was found in the ear canal (the vet looked); it doesn't seem to be traditional ear mites.

At this point, we suspect some form of Cheyletiella (many types of it exist) or even a type of mite that came from a hay bale (that was possibly infected by a mite on mice/rats). It's a mystery, but it's a problem.

 

[Flashy]

Hmm. Dust mite problem? I'm looking at the less likely options. Have they lost fur or anything? Any dandruffy stuff?

 

[Jenk]

Flashy wrote:

Hmm. Dust mite problem? I'm looking at the less likely options. Have they lost fur or anything? Any dandruffy stuff?

No, it's much more than dust mites.

Pink did initially lose fur around the base of his ears/on the top of his head (shortly before Revolution treatment began).

Due to her woes from the mites, my mom's done a lot of research on them; they are very misunderstood, especially in North America. Vets here seem to think that a few shots/doses of a drug will handle the problem. But if you do a Google search on mite issues, you'll find tons of stories from people who've suffered horribly from them, even while following the "normal" protocol prescribed by the experts.

I'm learning that there are so many types of mites that can affect/annoy both humans and animals. Also, they're becoming resistant to many pesticides (in the U.S.) because the EPA has cracked down and is forcing exterminators to use weaker versions of chemicals. It may be safer for humans, in a manner of speaking, but the weaker pesticides aren't taking care of the problem. And, to my mind, a neverending parasite infestation is a BIG problem.

 

[JadeIcing]

No ideabut wow. Nothing is showing thats weird. :shock:

 

[Maureen Las]

I posted a question on EB within the last several months relating to treating the environment for mites and the discussion went on for days with a plethora of info exchanged including specific products that could safely be used for the home

I was fairly certain that I brought some of that info to this site so it may be in an old post if we have access to it.
I for one would not be treating my rabbits to this extent with revolution or anything else. Several rabbits at the shelter have lost fur at the site of application when given 1 dose
I would be concerned about excess selamectin in itself causing allergic reactions, thus leading to the symptoms that it is supposed to treat.
I have never heard of a situation like this before.

What seems strange is that I am in a shelter environment almost constantly yet have never transfered any parasite, mite , flea to any of my 11 pets.

I think that you posted On EB so possibly the individuals can go over it again...

 

[Hazel-Mom]

Flashy wrote:

Are you treating your environment too? Is Advantage better for all round treatment? I'm asking in general there, not specifically you Jenk.

Advantage is safe to use on rabbits, but does not treat for mites, only fleas.
Revolution treats for both fleas and mites.
Jenk, if the monthly revolution doses didn't work, are you sure you applied the correct dosage? If applied correctly, it should work.
If, like many people incorrectly advice, you "split the dose in two", or use "just one drop", not only may it not work effectively, it probably contributes to making the mites more resistant to the chemicals.
Make sure you get the correct formula for your animals (it depends on body weight) and apply the whole dose.
Also, if they are bonded, you'll need to separate the buns for a day or so, to prevent them from licking the product off of eachother.

 

[tonyshuman]

Someone on here reccomended putting a flea collar inside your vacuum cleaner to help. Maybe Revolution comes in a collar form? If the bugs are living through the treatment, they are either not mites or (more likely I think) they're picking them up again from the environment. Definitely look into shampooing carpet or upholstery.

 

[Flashy]

Hazel-Mom wrote:

Flashy wrote:

Are you treating your environment too? Is Advantage better for all round treatment? I'm asking in general there, not specifically you Jenk.

Advantage is safe to use on rabbits, but does not treat for mites, only fleas.
Revolution treats for both fleas and mites.

Thanks for clarifying that I have never used any of these, but knew it was used for some sort of problem, didn't know what it was though, so thans for sorting that out.

 

[naturestee]

I wonder if Ivermectin would be a better choice. It can be given orally, injected, and there's a version that can be poured in the ears. It would be given regularly (maybe daily for oral?) so there would be a more constant level of medication. Also, like Becknutt said you can put a little oil- usually mineral oil- into their ears to smother ear mites. I think this also kills eggs. I know my vets will often clean ears with a mineral oil-based ear cleaner before adding ear mite medications.

Like Tonyshuman said, if flea collars also treat mites then put a collar in your vacuum bag. I'm not sure how mites get on with carpet shampooing, I know doing it too much can actually encourage fleas because they like the moist carpet. But if you haven't yet, maybe shampoo the carpet then treat with chemicals.

Advantage is safe for rabbits, it's what the shelter I volunteer at uses for them. But it doesn't treat mites.

 

[Maureen Las]

This is an old thread with several suggestions

I believe Crystal mentioned a product called 'Knockout ' several times

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=40061&forum_id=16

 

[Jenk]

JadeIcing wrote:

No ideabut wow. Nothing is showing thats weird. :shock:

Not so weird. Again,many online stories that I've found detail people going through a nightmare with this issue because the mite type couldn't be discovered through testing. But the symptoms were present. Such people were often told that it's "all in the head" by any professional(s) who couldn't uncover the mite itself. But I know that they're not crazy. Mites are harder to uncover than doctors seem to believe.

 

[Jenk]

Hazel-Mom wrote:

Jenk, if the monthly revolution doses didn't work, are you sure you applied the correct dosage? If applied correctly, it should work.
If, like many people incorrectly advice, you "split the dose in two", or use "just one drop", not only may it not work effectively, it probably contributes to making the mites more resistant to the chemicals.
Make sure you get the correct formula for your animals (it depends on body weight) and apply the whole dose.

Oh, I've definitely given the exact dosages that were calculated by the vet based upon each bun's weight. I've read in one book that you multiply .05 per each pound of body weight. I think that our vet is being more conservative; she seems to be multiplying by approximately .046. I don't know if that's been too weak of an amount, but it's not erradicating the issue.

My mom spoke to an entomologist who said that his most updated source on mites indicates that Revolution isn't effective on all mite types. That said, we still don't know the mite type and wonder if it's one that's more resistant to Revolution.

Also, if they are bonded, you'll need to separate the buns for a day or so, to prevent them from licking the product off of each other.

Oh, we do separate them for the evening that it's applied.

 

[Jenk]

tonyshuman wrote:

If the bugs are living through the treatment, they are either not mites or (more likely I think) they're picking them up again from the environment. Definitely look into shampooing carpet or upholstery.

What's most ironic about that statement is that many vets say that you don't need to treat the environment. Based upon their medical textbooks, most mites should die off when you make the host unpalatable to them. Well, we've done that and then some. (When we started Revolution treatment,I spent 21 straight days' vacuuming our home--with a very powerful vacuum cleaner--when we had carpeting. That wasn't enough. Neither was the Virbac [Knock-Off] treatment that we tried.)

I don't disagree with the suggestion of treating the home, but it gets more tricky....

For one thing, most exterminatorswon't guarantee their work if it's mites for which they're treating. Also, many of them won't treat unless they know the specific mite type that's in the home.

Another fly in the ointment is that we replaced our (upstairs) carpeting in Dec. Now my mom tells me that an exterminator told her that he would've treated my parents' home (and gauranteed his work) if they still had carpeting. He said that with wood flooring, mites have more places to hide. Great.

And, in our case, we don't have baseboards on the walls yet; we need to wait until the weather's warm enough so that we can paint them in the garage. I'm betting that such exposure lets mites run wild all the more....

 

[Jenk]

naturestee wrote:

I wonder if Ivermectin would be a better choice. It can be given orally, injected, and there's a version that can be poured in the ears. It would be given regularly (maybe daily for oral?) so there would be a more constant level of medication. Also, like Becknutt said you can put a little oil- usually mineral oil- into their ears to smother ear mites. I think this also kills eggs. I know my vets will often clean ears with a mineral oil-based ear cleaner before adding ear mite medications.

We started out with Revolution because that's what the vet pushed. (Her clinic carries it.) And I trusted that it would be enough.

I did eventually suggest trying Ivermectin shots, at which point she was reluctant because of the Revolution that they've been given thus far. She said that the two drugs are so closely related, that she doesn't want to quickly switch to another drug that's nearly the same thing. (But how is that any different from such repeated Revolution treatments?)

 

[tonyshuman]

I'm sure the vet carries ivermectin. It's used on everything from dogs to cows to humans. It can be given orally (wikipedia tells me). It is pretty similar chemically to Revolution (compound name selamectin), but I agree that it doesn't make much sense to stick with a drug that's not working instead of trying one that might kick it.