rabbit flea control

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manda

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LOL SORRY i meant FLEA control! jeez i just woke up and my fingers are too fast for my head. sorry, i feel stupid now. mods after just posting we should be able to go back and change the title of our posts



what do you guys do to keep fleas off your bunnies. i have used avantage a few times in the past and it worked like a charm. however i am conserned about putting this on them every single month. i have used it three times, i have seen fleas on the bunnies twice, and thats why i would go put some more on, but instead of every month its been every other month. does anyone know if avantage has any long term effects in bunnies? also what are some other things i can do to keep fleas away. the rabbits go outside about two times a week, but when its not so hot they go out to play almost everyday. i assume thats where they are getting fleas.

i know one of the best ways to controll fleas is to actually vacum. i vacum everyday (mess buns!) and keep the cages picked up well.

ps. fleas have never been bad on my rabbits, i will just see a few and i never see any flea dirt

 
I practice holistic care with all my pets including my dog so they are never on a flea product. I keept their area clean and regularly groom my dog but we have never had a flea problem even though my dog socializes with many other dogs and their are cats and wildlife in out yard. With that said I would certainly consider treating with a traditional medication should a flea problem occur and get out of hand. I'm not sure that I would want to put flea medication on the bunnies every month but maybe someone else has experience with this? Good luck!
 
isnt avantage just as safe? and it last a month. and wouldnt i have to treat the cages and carpet, and furnature etc if i use a power? because you dont have to do all of that with the avantage.

whats the name of the power you use? i will have to check into that.
 
oh yeah i went looking for kitten flea powder and all i could find was cat, kitten, puppy, dog powder that said not to use on animals under 12wk of age. none of my bunnies are, but it still made me nervous. i guess i need to get some avantage and then look up something else i can use. using avantage on Alex worries me because hes just around 2lbs.
 
I swear I read somewhere that fleas are not all that common on rabbits because of their dense fur. It makes living conditions for a flea quite hard so they tend to live on other animals instead of rabbits. That's not to say that they don't ever live on rabbits, but it's not all that common. My outside rabbits have never even had fleas and thats coming in contact with an outside dog as well.

Personally, I don't give my rabbits anything as a preventative measure, I'm worried I'll do more harm than good and I'm really against putting chemicals on them without a pretty darn good reason.

Fleas can also be seen with the naked eye, it's espeically easy on light colored rabbits. I check daily by flowing at the fur in a few spots on the body. Any black flecks call for a closer inspection.
 
i found 5 black fleas on Alex yesterday. none on Ryo yet. this makes the third time i have had a flea problem. it worries me!

but im not seeing any flea dirt. i havent looked to closely tho

rubysmom, thanks for the linkies
 
:shock:Wow, that's weird. The weirder thing is that I've heard of inside rabbits getting fleas more often than outside rabbits. I wonder if outside rabbits have a denser coat that makes it harder for fleas to live on them?

But if this is the 3rd time, there's got to be some source bringing them into the house or you just haven't totally elimated them the other times and the eggs were still in their cage, feed, carpet, etc.

EDIT: Just saw you say that they go outside. I'd suggest not allowing them outside for a few weeks and seeing if the problem stops.

 
yeah there going to be staying indoors.

we have an indoor/outdoor dog that has no fleas because it is treated with flea meds and i never see any on her. also we never ever ever see fleas unless its in JULY! not june, not december.... just july! its crazy i know....

some people put avantage on there rabbits every month, but that sounds awful to me. i think need to move the bunnies out of the room and spray the carpet with some flea spray but its wierd that i never see them on me or the carpet! i spend alot of time on the carpet too being with my buns. i vacum all the time and that makes it difficult for fleas to live there. with buns and hay everywhere i have to vacum everyday so i am not sure that they are living in the carpet.

i feel like i am wasting time that i have not treated them yet, but i dont want to use avantage anymore!
 
Put on a pair of clean white socks and walk around your carpet rubbing your feet along the carpet. This will pick up any fleas or flea dirt. That way you can tell if you have a flea problem in the house. Are you positive they are fleas? I would go through them with a flea comb and put any bugs into a baggie maybe for your vet to look at. Do you live in a house or an apartment/duplex? Sometimes fleas can travel if a neighbor has a bad flea problem. I, too, would hesitate to use any chemicals on the rabbits unless you have a flea infestation.
 
i wear white socks around all the time and never once have seen any fleas or flea dirt. and i am positive they are fleas im seeing on alex. 110% sure. i deffinally know what fleas look like because i lived with fleas all my life (im not going to talk bad about my parents but i didnt grow up in the best invironment)

where i live the neighbors are about a fourth a mile away, and we never have visitors. i will get a flea comb and comb out the fleas. but what do you put the fleas in to kill them? i will rub my feet on the carpet more, but like i said i vacum every single day so i dont see how the world fleas would be on my carpet.

i have talked to some people who live where i do and they also said that fleas are very very very bad down here this year. i know a woman who works at the animal shelter here and she said she hasnt ever seen fleas around here this bad.

maybe i am getting them because the windows are open all the time. we still dont have air conditioning and being a basement house the windows are ground level.
 
I've never had a flea problem with my outside rabbits so I can't really help anymore than I already have.

One question though, what type of litter do you use? I've heard of people have mite problems when they use CareFresh bedding.
 
Hi! I was really worried about fleas too because i THINK i saw a flea on my kitchen floor....so i brought the buns to a vet right away and this is what she did:

1. she put the buns on a piece of WHITE PAPER and rubbed the fur near the back/bum area to see if any flea dirt fell out

2. Any dirt that fell out - put small drop of water on it and smear it to see if it turns red/orange (should look like blood)

I have the buns on something called Revolution - it's different from Advantage - supposedly it's the safest one for buns...and I think it's newer than Advantage...I'm in Canada though, so I'm not sure if you have it where you are...

Hope that helps!
 
I know the Revolution we sell at my vet hospital treats fleas and heartworms, so would that be safe for buns, I mean the treatment of heartworms? I know the product Program (oral flea med) is safe. I just used advantage b/c I saw 2 fleas on Mocha. And it works pretty well.
 
No one product is completely safe and keep in mind that none of these products are labeled for use on rabbits. I recommend consulting with a vet for flea/mite treatment on rabbits.

Revolution (Selamectin)is commonly used on rabbits and is considered a safe option in most cases. However, no medication is every completely safe and some vets have discontinued use of Revolution due to side effects ranging from severe chemical burns on the skin to death. Animals that do not tolerate Ivermectin cannot be treated with Revolution.

Advantage (Imidacloprid)is also commonly used on rabbits. There have been toxic reaction reported in rabbits.

Carbaryl powder is commonly recommended for fleas on rabbits/cats. It is a product that has been used for many years (I've also used it for many years without any problems). Side effects have been noted on rare occasions. Symptoms generally cease shortly after the product is washed off.

Ivermectin is very widely used in the treatment of fur mites. On rare occasions, rabbits have suffered serious reactions to the drug.

Program is also commonly used on rabbits, but does not kill adult fleas. On rare occasions, rabbits have suffered toxic reactions to Program (Lufenuron).

It has been recommended to not use products such as Sentinal (same ingredient as Program, but also has Milbemycin Oximeforparasite treatment)or permethrins such as Frontline. (although I do use a permethrin sprayer in my barn).



Pam
 
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