panacur - one dose only?

[Sabine]

I was talking to my vet about worming my rabbits as they are all over a year old and have never been wormed. They are allowed to forage outside so there is a good chance that they may have picked up things along the line
Not many people here worm their rabbits regularily and she said she'd look into getting me some panacur in bulk if possible. She came up with the idea to get some panacur for bigger animals (horse/sheep) and adjust the dose to a rabbit. She inquired through intravet about the dose and the safety and I ended up getting the supply for free She also made sure the panacur had no additives apart from the main ingredient (name has just slipped my mind)
I think it's safe enough the only concern is that she was told one dose would be sufficient? Is that likely as most worm cures take at least nine days. I've dosed them all now but I am not sure if I should consider them adequately wormed? But as it is not the proper panacur for rabbits I dare not give repeated doses. Should I ditch the stuff and get the rabbit panacur or keep giving it for a longer period? Or is one dose enough?

 

[tonyshuman]

The active ingredient is ivermectin. Several rabbit breeders with large groups will use sheep panacur to deworm their bunnies regularly, but I don't know what the exact protocol is. I think it is right to do two doses, since one dose will kill any live worms, but any unhatched ones will be unharmed (or something like that).

 

[Sabine]

I just looked it up and I remembered the active ingredient is Fenbendazole. I am not sure if that's related to Ivermectin. I have only come across ivermectin as an injection against mites.
So if a second dose is safe I wonder at what stage I should give it. I remember from worming the kids (human) they usually recommend a second dose after 14 days?

 

[tonyshuman]

Oh, sorry. I got it confused with another antiparasitic that many breeders use. :embarassed:

I'll let someone who has practical experience advise you on a dosing regimen.

I have found sites that reference a 9-day treatment with Panacur for EC treatment (although that doesn't work very well).

Here our own Randy says he does 4 courses 7 days apart for internal parasites, so that would be one dose every 7 days, 4 total doses.
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/2008/11/Ongoing-rabbit-illness-please-2.htm

 

[Sabine]

I am wondering though as it is only prophylactic and i have no actual evidence of worms is that maybe the reason I was advised to give only one dose. i am sort of worried to give more as it is not the actual rabbit panacur?
Also how do I know if they have worms?

 

[DazyDaizee]

I don't know how prophylactic worming goes.. because if there WERE intestinal parasites, then you'd be treating for several days.. so if you're worming as a precaution, in case the rabbits have intestinal parasites, I would think you'd do it the same way. Unless you were giving it monthly, in which case one dose may kill the worms before they have the chance to really mature.

But Panacur is Panacur. If the only active ingredient is Fenbendazole, and your vet has figured out the correct dose, there shouldn't be any harm in giving it any differently than you would if it were "rabbit panacur" (I'm actually not sure that even exists. I think it's only marketed for dogs, cats, and select farm animals. It is safe for rabbits, and there is dosing info available in veterinary books, but to my knowledge there is no Panacur made for rabbits selectively).

One thing I would check is that the dose she gave you is not HIGHER than the recommended dose for standard deworming considering you're only giving it for one day. If it is the standard dose, giving it for longer shouldn't hurt. EC treatment with Panacur is often 28 days or more. Though there are better medications that pass the blood/brain barrier. Still.. it's used safely for long periods.

 

[ra7751]

Another interesting thread. First, there is no "maybe" about having worms....your rabbit has parasites...so do you, so do I. In fact, most people would be totally grossed out if they knew about the parasites they have. There is a test, called a fecal float, that can check for parasites but we have found it to be notoriously inaccurate. But you can guarantee that there are worms/parasites in the GI.

Now, Panacur. Panacur's active ingredient is Fenbendazole. It is the latest of the "bendazoles" that include Oxybendazole and Albendazole. They are labeled for use in horses. For the most part, any medical protocol that is safe for a horse is safe for a rabbit....and so it is with Panacur. It is effective against most intestinal parasites. The idea behind treating parasites is knowing what you are dealing with and what the life cycle of that parasite is. Ideally there are three rounds of treatments....I do four. For basic parasite management, the treatment is given once a week. The first round of drugs get the adult parasites, the second gets any immature parasites that have hatched since the first treatment (and before they can reproduce) and the third is mop up. I just like to get more for my money and add a fourth treatment. These parasites can come in on food, in water and on your clothes/shoes/body. Keep in mind that Panacur will not kill all parasites in the GI.

Panacur has long been hailed as a treatment for E Cuniculi. I have dealt with this condition more than I care to discuss.....but I really feel that administering Panacur to treatEC is more for our peace of mind in thinking we are doing something against this protozoa. Common length of treatment for EC is Panacur for 28 consecutive days....I have done up to 60 consecutive days. Fact is that Panacur is not able to easily punch thru the blood/brain barrier. The idea in the long and concentrated protocol is the hope that at least some of the drug will get thru. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case. The most promising treatment is a drug called Ponazuril (Marquis) that can pass the blood/brain barrier in horses and has been shown to be quite effective against the protozoa known as Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM) in horses.

There is only one down side to deworming....and this would be a rare thing. But if there were a huge number of worms that were killed quickly, the decaying worms might pose a toxicity concern. Doubtful that would ever happen but never say never. I have used Panacur extensively on numerous species without any negative incidences.

Randy

 

[tonyshuman]

So, on a bunny that was kept in poor conditions and is suspected to have common intestinal parasites, the 4 treatment course would be a good idea?

 

[ra7751]

A fourth round certainly wouldn't hurt. I started this when I had a rabbit with hook worms....first time I had seen those in a rabbit. Hookworms are particularly nasty little parasites and I wanted to make sure they were done. These worms can infect humans and cause severe problems. They usually invade humans thru the feet. A very good reason not to go barefoot in a vet clinic or any area that has been used as a latrine by animals. Since this rabbit, that had major issues, presented no ill effects from the extra round, I implemented the fourth round as a verified "mop up".

Randy

 

[Sabine]

There is a panacur especially for rabbits on the UK market. I have been given panacur 10% and have been instructed to administer 0.25ml of that per 5 kg of body weight.
Since my rabbits, apart from my nethie are all around 2kg I gave them about 0.1ml each. Would that be safe to repeat?

 

[Sabine]

Sorry for being a pain and bumping this again but i am still not quite sure if the dose 0.25ml of 10% panacur per 5 kg of body weight can safely be repeated.

 

[tonyshuman]

I think from what Randy said it can be repeated up to four times.

 

[Sabine]

I just wasn't sure if it applies to this particular concentration as it was originally intended for larger animals. But I think I chance a second dose anyhow

 

[tonyshuman]

As long as the amount of active ingredient is the same (the dose, in mg), it doesn't matter what the concentration is, really. 0.25mL of 10% panacur is the same as 0.5mL of 5% panacur, because they have the same amount of the drug.

 

[Maureen Las]

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rx/drugcalc.html

fenbendazole (panacur) is safe guard and is on the chart. I don't know if Safeguard comes in anything other than 10%

you cannot figure out thedosage unless you know how many mg are contained in each ml

maybe the vet labeled the bottle ; if not you can always call him on Mon.

 

[ra7751]

I don't normally give drug dosing....but this time I will. Call your vet and get the Panacur suspension. It is concentrated at 100mg/ml unless the vet has modified it for some reason. Dosing is 20mg/kg PO.

There is a potential problem in using a small part of a large syringe of paste meds. The concentration of the drug is usually not consistent thru the entire syringe. With a horse, they get the entire syringe....so if there are "hot spots" of concentrated drug, it doesn't matter. But when you are dosing a small amount of paste, you might get much more or much less drug that stated on the label in any one particular sample of paste.

If your vet doesn't have suspension, it might be possible for a pharmacist (or a chemist as he/she might be called there) to make a suspension and hopefully have a known concentration of drug.

Randy

 

[tonyshuman]

10% means 10g per 100mL, so that's 10mg/mL. Usually with biology/chemistry things where they say a percent but don't specify what it means, by saying v/v, m/m etc, percent means g/100mL.

 

[Maureen Las]

Thanks Claire
I boughtSafe-guard (fenbendazole)suspension at farm and fleet for goats LOL.
it is just in a smaller bottle and 10% suspension which is 100 mg/ml

just checked the bottle...

The Panacur in the tube is dosed for horses and like Randy said the med is not necessarily evenly distributed throughout the tube so less reliable unless the whole tube is needed.