I found fleas on a new bunny!

[l.lai]

Hi there,

We just picked up an adorable 8 week old orange mini lop, the cutest little buck you'll ever see!

In the car on the way home we saw two things that alarmed us:

1. A small circle shaped hairless patch on the back of his neck behind his head that had a dried scab on it. It appears it got into a fight with some of the rabbits in its cage and they bit him? Its healing now though it appears.

2. Some small black bug looking things crawling around its eyes. I managed to pick one out only to find a few more.

So we immediately took it to a vet and he told us that they're stickfast flea's.

Does anyone have experience with fleas on rabbits?

The vet treated him with flea and worm treatment designed for cats. Later he gave us a second 0.4ml vial of an oil like substance for dogs, which is the brand "Advantage". It is "Imidacloprid" ??

Some google sites seem to list this product as a suitable product to use.

Do i need to worry about the fleas tranferring to me, my gf or her little sister?

What about the carpet and furniture?

Thanks for all your help guys!

 

[Hazel-Mom]

Hi Lawrence, we've had fleas a few times on Hazel and White Chocolate (they came in with my brother-in-law, when his cat had fleas!).
The first time the vet prescribed Advantage for kittens. Now we usually use Revolution (also for kittens), since Hazel seems to tolerate that one better.
We must have been very lucky, because usually one treatment of the buns has been enough. Apart from vacuuming a bit more dilligently, we have never done any treatment on the carpets.
Small bunny rugs and towels did get washed, toys and boxes were cleaned, but just white vinegar as usual.

 

[l.lai]

Thanks Hilde! I appreciate your help!

 

[mistyjr]

Also, If the bunny still haves flea's. Pick the fleas with a tweezers and dunk them water, Water will drown them also..
I did this for my dog,

 

[tonyshuman]

The active ingredient in Revolution is selamectin. The drug you mentioned--imidacloprid--it is a different active ingredient, but it is the same as what is found in Advantage. It should be safe if dosed correctly.

 

[Rae033]

Just wanted to mention that they little scab on the back of his next, we noticed our 2 boys had those..and we knew they have never scrapped or fought with eachother. Finally we figured it out that as they would "cuddle" up against eachother and crawl over the other to get some where their nails would sometimes make a scratch and if we didnt get meds on it, the scab seemed a lot bigger than the actual scratch. So if you plan on bonding them, just keep there nails short!

 

[Fynnagin]

The scab could also be from scratching from the fleas. Your bun could also have a flea allergy which could cause it as well.

I have used Advantage with no problems. After reading some of these responses, I may switch to Revolution, just to be on the safe side.

 

[Maureen Las]

You only dose with revolution once and can repeat in a month if still needed.I think that it is the same with Advantage soI wouldn't give another dose now.

takes about 24 hrs to kill them

 

[l.lai]

So the flea's should be all gone within 24 hours?

The first dose from the vet he said to redose in 2 weeks time and they should all be gone?

Do i follow the vet or what you guys tell me?!

 

[Hazel-Mom]

You'll have to decide that one, Lawrence, sorry.
The advantage we have here says once every 30 days, I don't know what the Australian dosage is. Maybe your vet gave a smaller dose to start with, and you need to dose again in 2 weeks.
Best to talk to your vet about your concerns and questions, and see what he/she reccomends.

 

[tonyshuman]

I think the second dose is to coincide with when the eggs that are on the rabbit at the time of the first dose would hatch. So the first dose kills all the live bugs, and the 2nd kills the ones that were eggs at the time of the first dose and are now adults.

I think the treatment protocol with Revolution is different for bunnies that have an active outbreak of fleas.