Mites

[Haru the Lionhead]

So.. haru has mites, I just took her to the vet and they gave her a shot of doramectin and told me to bring her back after two weeks to get her second dose
I’m not sure what type of mites it is, but she has a bald spot behind her neck and on her abdomen, and dandruff on the ears.
If you can please give me any advice about cleaning the area or anything that can help treating her and prevent reinfestation

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

Guys I need your help please since we don’t have a rabbit savvy vet
The dandruff is only on her ears, her neck and abdomen is clean
When the vet did the scraping, he dif it from her ear
One of my friends said that it could be that the mites are only on the ears because she doesn’t have dandruff anywhere else, and the bald spots are from alopecia or something else
I asked someone else, and he told me that doramectin won’t do anything, and that I should be able to see the mites without a microscope, and that the mites would spread around the house and would be seen clearly, is that true? please help me, i don't have any experience with mites and i don't know what to believe anymore
i'll post the bald spots and dandruff photos

 

[Watermelons]

Doramectin should work. Ivermectin would be better and work faster. Does your rabbit have white on them?
Selamectin might be a better choice too.

Your friends are wrong and the vet is right. Mites can still spread around the house but you cant see them with the naked eye. A skin scraping is the best diagnostic tool and your vet did the right thing.

 

[JBun]

Clean out your litter box if you haven't already. Wash any bedding your rabbit has. Clean up and vacuum where you can, but really the medication when given correctly, should clear up everything just fine in most cases.

I would ask for a third treatment two weeks after the second one, if the vet doesn't automatically suggest it. Or like Watermelons said, go with topical selamectin if available(Revolution or Stronghold). Then just one more treatment should do.

Medirabbit: fur mites

Selamectin dosing info

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

Clean out your litter box if you haven't already. Wash any bedding your rabbit has. Clean up and vacuum where you can, but really the medication when given correctly, should clear up everything just fine in most cases.

I would ask for a third treatment two weeks after the second one, if the vet doesn't automatically suggest it. Or like Watermelons said, go with topical selamectin if available(Revolution or Stronghold). Then just one more treatment should do.

Medirabbit: fur mites

Selamectin dosing info

I cleaned the room, changed the litter box, washed the blankets, and removed the toys before taking her to the vet so she would come back to a cleaned area.
Then I cleaned again and changed the blanket after 24 hours.
Do i need to clean the area every day? if yes, how many days do I clean?
I asked the vet to give her a third dose, he said that after two weeks he will check if she’s clear, if not then he will give it to her.
I don’t have revolution, but I’ll try to order it online. Can you please tell me how to use it, I don’t have any experience with mites

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

Doramectin should work. Ivermectin would be better and work faster. Does your rabbit have white on them?
Selamectin might be a better choice too.

Your friends are wrong and the vet is right. Mites can still spread around the house but you cant see them with the naked eye. A skin scraping is the best diagnostic tool and your vet did the right thing.

The vet refused to give her ivermectin, he said that it has higher toxicity for rabbits than doramectin.
What do you mean by white?
can i still use the selamectin while she's taking the doramectine?
i'll order it right now, but i think that it will arrive after her second dose

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

Also she’s been very lazy ever since we got back from the vet, is it from the treatment? it’s been 30 hours
She’s not moving from her corner, she only eats or sleeps
When I call her for pellets she runs around like crazy, but after the pellets she goes back to the corner and sleep
I gave her sherwood appetite restore, it says that it restores energy, but she’s still sleeping

 

[JBun]

By white, she means is your rabbit a white rabbit, as they can sometimes be sensitive to ivermectin. But I think I remember your rabbit being brown/chocolate?

No, just the once for cleaning now that your rabbit has received treatment, as the mites will have been killed off. Then when she receives her next treatment you could clean once more just to be safe if you want to.

You could order the selamectin to have on hand if you want in case you ever need to treat for mites again, but once she's received the second dose you really probably won't need to be treating her after that. Or if the medicine the vet gave is making her sick and you don't want a second dose to be given, the selamectin could be done instead, which is usually a topical spot on treatment applied at the nape of the neck behind the head.

But your bun is still eating and drinking right? If the vet gave too much of the med, it could be making her feel sick. As long as she doesn't become lethargic and stop eating, she should be alright. But if you get concerned that she is doing unwell, it's best to phone your vet.

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

By white, she means is your rabbit a white rabbit, as they can sometimes be sensitive to ivermectin. But I think I remember your rabbit being brown/chocolate?

No, just the once for cleaning now that your rabbit has received treatment, as the mites will have been killed off. Then when she receives her next treatment you could clean once more just to be safe if you want to.

You could order the selamectin to have on hand if you want in case you ever need to treat for mites again, but once she's received the second dose you really probably won't need to be treating her after that. Or if the medicine the vet gave is making her sick and you don't want a second dose to be given, the selamectin could be done instead, which is usually a topical spot on treatment applied at the nape of the neck behind the head.

But your bun is still eating and drinking right? If the vet gave too much of the med, it could be making her feel sick. As long as she doesn't become lethargic and stop eating, she should be alright. But if you get concerned that she is doing unwell, it's best to phone your vet.

She’s dark grey/black
How do I know if the medication is making her sick?
She’s sleeping a lot, but her appetite is the same
thank you very much

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

By white, she means is your rabbit a white rabbit, as they can sometimes be sensitive to ivermectin. But I think I remember your rabbit being brown/chocolate?

No, just the once for cleaning now that your rabbit has received treatment, as the mites will have been killed off. Then when she receives her next treatment you could clean once more just to be safe if you want to.

You could order the selamectin to have on hand if you want in case you ever need to treat for mites again, but once she's received the second dose you really probably won't need to be treating her after that. Or if the medicine the vet gave is making her sick and you don't want a second dose to be given, the selamectin could be done instead, which is usually a topical spot on treatment applied at the nape of the neck behind the head.

But your bun is still eating and drinking right? If the vet gave too much of the med, it could be making her feel sick. As long as she doesn't become lethargic and stop eating, she should be alright. But if you get concerned that she is doing unwell, it's best to phone your vet.

Her second dose will be tomorrow, but I still see her itching, and the bald spot is the same or maybe worse, is that normal or does it mean that she’s not cured?

 

[JBun]

If she's still itching, then the med given isn't working, and it should have worked within a day or two. You should have seen continuing improvement each day after the injection. Can you get Revolution/Stronghold(selamectin)?

You don't happen to bathe your rabbit or apply anything else to your rabbits fur or skin?

 

[John Wick]

To chime in just in case, did your vet actually test for mites (i.e. skin scraping to see them, though I've heard that can be unreliable in detecting them)? Other skin conditions, like ringworm, can cause fur loss and flaking and those wouldn't see improvement on the medications you've mentioned at this point (I believe).

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

If she's still itching, then the med given isn't working, and it should have worked within a day or two. You should have seen continuing improvement each day after the injection. Can you get Revolution/Stronghold(selamectin)?

You don't happen to bathe your rabbit or apply anything else to your rabbits fur or skin?

I’m not sure if the itching is normal or more than usual
No I don’t bathe her nor apply anything on her skin
By improvement you mean that she should’ve stopped itching, or are you talking about fur regrowing?

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

To chime in just in case, did your vet actually test for mites (i.e. skin scraping to see them, though I've heard that can be unreliable in detecting them)? Other skin conditions, like ringworm, can cause fur loss and flaking and those wouldn't see improvement on the medications you've mentioned at this point (I believe).

Yes the vet did skin scraping and told me that she has mites

 

[JBun]

Rabbits get itches, it's normal for them to scratch occasionally. But if they are constantly scratching at the same spot and/or going to scratch an area a lot more than seems usual, that's excessive and is an indicator of a likely skin problem.

So she should have gone back to just the occasional itching and not always wanting to scratch at the same spot. You should also be seeing at least some indication of the skin not being all dandruffy or irritated. Fur regrowth varies with each rabbit. Some rabbits it will grow back quickly, some it's very gradual and happens more with their molt cycle, so can take several weeks to even months to grow back. So for your rabbit, to determine if the mites are cleared up, go by if your rabbit is trying to still scratch a lot trying to get to that spot, and if the dandruffy skin has improved.

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

Rabbits get itches, it's normal for them to scratch occasionally. But if they are constantly scratching at the same spot and/or going to scratch an area a lot more than seems usual, that's excessive and is an indicator of a likely skin problem.

So she should have gone back to just the occasional itching and not always wanting to scratch at the same spot. You should also be seeing at least some indication of the skin not being all dandruffy or irritated. Fur regrowth varies with each rabbit. Some rabbits it will grow back quickly, some it's very gradual and happens more with their molt cycle, so can take several weeks to even months to grow back. So for your rabbit, to determine if the mites are cleared up, go by if your rabbit is trying to still scratch a lot trying to get to that spot, and if the dandruffy skin has improved.

How much time does it take for the dandruffy skin to improve?
I’m not sure if the itching is more than normal or not, but there is a bit of dandruff as you can see in the photo, it’s only on the skin and there’s no flakes all over, it just looks like a white spot on the skin

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

Rabbits get itches, it's normal for them to scratch occasionally. But if they are constantly scratching at the same spot and/or going to scratch an area a lot more than seems usual, that's excessive and is an indicator of a likely skin problem.

So she should have gone back to just the occasional itching and not always wanting to scratch at the same spot. You should also be seeing at least some indication of the skin not being all dandruffy or irritated. Fur regrowth varies with each rabbit. Some rabbits it will grow back quickly, some it's very gradual and happens more with their molt cycle, so can take several weeks to even months to grow back. So for your rabbit, to determine if the mites are cleared up, go by if your rabbit is trying to still scratch a lot trying to get to that spot, and if the dandruffy skin has improved.

We just got back from the vet
She still has mites, he gave her a second dose of doramectin, and sprayed her with an ivermectin spray
He gave me a bit in a bottle and told me to spray her every three days, then bring her back after 14 days to get a third dose.
Does this sound right? and what else can i do?

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

I was trying to search about the ivermectin spray but I only found bephar, and the one that the vet used was a dark bottle with ivermectin written on it
Some people say that i should use it every 10 days (three times only)
And others say that it’s only used once, and if I needed to use it again it should be after 30 days
But the vet told me to use it every three days
Also, the vet told me to spray her everywhere and that it’s okay for her to lick it afterwards is that correct?

 

[JBun]

What are all the active and inactive ingredients in the spray?

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

What are all the active and inactive ingredients in the spray?

I’m not sure, the vet only had one bottle, so he gave me a bit in a spray bottle,
But it was a dark brown glass bottle with ivermectin written on it