Randy, great point about the potential die-off of parasites affecting Judy's rabbits. I don't know about the mites, but if there were pinworms or something as well, this would account for both rabbits, seeing as they'd likely both be infected.
Or for all we know they may have eaten something that didn't mix well with the drug or they had been on another med. (Known interactions is a "No Data Available").
Judy, were they related and did they live together? Any sign of other parasites? Were they on other drugs?
Another thing that popped up in my research (with no further data) was a brief mention in a Veterinary dermatology workshop on parasite medications for rodents and rabbits that said that dental (and eye) issues could affect the skin. More info there would be interesting.
Re: The genetics, there is a warning on the Xeno 450 packaging not to give it to dogs or other animals, "especially Collies and Old English Sheepdogs." I've been looking at some of the studies done on this drug with rabbits (which are few and far between) and it doesn't appear anybody so far has addressed the same genetic colouring in rabbits as in the Collies and Sheepdogs.
I'm hoping that someone has or is trying to connect the dots somewhere, I keep thinking there must be hundreds of studies out there, but the truth still seems to be that for all the use of rabbits in human testing, nobody seems to bother testing rabbits for the rabbits' own benefit.
What I'm seeing in fairly recent documents and workshops is that no data exists, which seems to be echoed by the company. "No data available." Obviously I can't access all the studies and Vet journals, but from what I have seen, nobody has done any kind of extensive testing on the oral ingestion of the spot-on drug much less the genetics. With the studies that have been done, the test groups are usually too small to catch what may be a one-in-a-thousand sensitivity. (After all, they're only rabbits).
But Randy, to say that it's probably not true because its never happened to you after treating many rabbits is the same thing. If you have treated and documented thousands that have taken the spot drug orally (the issue at hand), and even 10 of them were blue dutches (the secondary genetic issue), I think that would be closer to the a sample used to determine safety in human studies.
Sensitivities, genetic or not, exist with everything -- I can't eat certain brands of apples without getting gas. Touching tomatoes gives me eczema. One veggie will upset one bunny and no others.
I find any blanket denials that the drug had something to do with the death to be totally untrustworthy. First off, you're dealing with a drug strong enough to require dire warnings about wearing gloves when adminstering it and safely disposing of the containers, and the drug is designed to kill living organisms. Its designed to be absorbed through the skin, not given orally. And we know rabbits have sensitive GI tracts.
I think the existing tests with relatively small sample groups are proving Xeno 450 to be very safe, but I doubt they administered it orally to a lot of older lops with dental issues.
When my cat had her reaction, I got the same absolute denials from the Vets and drug company, who told me that it looked like she had an allergic reaction, but it wasn't from the drug. :rollseyes They wanted to know what food she had been eating. ("Uh, she ate a spot-on flea med for dinner". If she could have a sensitivity to fish, she could have one to the meds. She ate the meds and got sick. I don't believe in coincidences. I'm going through the same thing with a cleaning product at the moment who have their corporate denials down to a better science than their product development).
So yeah, its an uphill battle trying to prove this, but its great to pursue it, hopefully it will inspire more studies and more data.
I've emailed a couple of Swedish Veterinarians at a University there who specialize in dermatology and parasitic issues who have done some testing on the drug on just over 50 random rabbits with no problems just to ask if any were dutch-marked (which doesn't really relate to Judy's issue) but I will contact them again with further questions if I get a response (other than 'whoareyougoaway').
Sorry I can't help with the documented case, I think the reference was just a Vet telling someone who's rabbit licked the Xeno 450 off another rabbit that it was completely absorbed after 40 minutes and the rabbit had no adverse reactions. (It was licked after it dried). And I don't think the 24 hour rule is issued for that drug like it is for Advantage, etc, although almost all others list the 'letting it dry' warning. Really don't understand why that's not the case for rabbits -- although it may be those small test numbers again.
This may be a one-in-a-thousand case, but it can still save that next one-thousandth bunny.
sas :expressionless:
