# Mange/Mites - Important Question regarding my rabbit



## mr.bunny (Jul 13, 2013)

Hello, I am new to this site and also quite a new rabbit owner!

I would really appreciate it if anyone could help me with this situation I am in.

Basically, my rabbit has mange (mites right?) and it is looking very bad. I work in a vet clinic and had him brought in by my brother. They gave him an injection of that ivermectin I believe and was told it would need 4-5 shots of it weekly. (Next one is Monday). I feel like since he was last in, it has gotten worse. Worse to the point where he doesn't even move anymore. He just sits there and I have to 'self-feed' him. His paws are all thickly crusted and the back hind-legs are now red raw. 

I feel very sad about it because we love him so much and obviously he looks in pain. Any hopping looks like just a big limp and he never puts pressure on the front two. 

I have read that cooking oil dabbed on to his paws is suppose to help but I am not so sure. I have seen its very very slightly starting to go on to his nose and also on both of his ears.

What can I do as a 'home remedy' to help my rabbit and with these injections, I am told it kills the mites once it goes through a full course but does this make the rabbit not immune but mite free? What about the food, do the mites get onto the fresh vegetables and then once eaten effect the bunny from inside? With the mites we must have to clean the cage everyday or not that much? Even holding the rabbit is uncomfortable for him and also, sadly myself and brother are quite itchy later on as its evident the mites then come on us. That isn't much of an issue though because its only a day or two and they go.

At the end of the day, I just want my rabbit to get better, the crusted paws to return to how they were and for my bunny to be better. I am told it could take up to 2-3 months for that to come in to fruition but its just the thought of it not getting better and then having it get even worse.

Any help will be SO much appreciated and also any remedies I could do myself at home would be of great help. I am told stronghold/revolution helps too? (I know about frontline, I wont use it).

Thanks again.


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## Bunnylova4eva (Jul 13, 2013)

I don't have a ton of great idea on this, but, I'm dealing with what I think is some sort of mange or mites on my bunny Ripley. I gave him a vial of revolution (selamectin) and it has helped a lot just in a few days. I'd ask the vet about that and see if you can try that in addition.


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## Bunnylova4eva (Jul 13, 2013)

Here's an interesting article: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/furloss.html#mange


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## Watermelons (Jul 13, 2013)

Can you not get him Revolution? Dose at 18mg/kg


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## JBun (Jul 13, 2013)

Sorry your bun is not doing well. Hopefully with the ivermectin, you will start seeing improvement soon. I'm not sure using revolution would help at all, as selamectin doesn't seem to be effective against burrowing mites, according to the medirabbit website. You can read through the info on this link. It describes the condition and what needs to be done to treat the rabbit and environment. You could maybe ask your vet about prescribing some metacam to provide some pain relief for your little guy.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/Mange/Sarcoptes.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Anti_parasitics/safe_antiparasitic.htm


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## Watermelons (Jul 13, 2013)

Revolution is designed for the treatment of Mange mites, and has been used successfully for the treatment of mange for many years.
Its much safer to administer and doesn't require the rabbit to have regular injections as its a simple topical application. However It may be best to give the first 2-3 doses within 2 weeks rather then once a month due to the severity of the issue at hand.


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## woahlookitsme (Jul 13, 2013)

What kind of rabbit do you have? Ivermectin can be toxic to some types of rabbits specifically blue eyed whites and dutch rabbits.


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## mr.bunny (Jul 13, 2013)

woahlookitsme said:


> What kind of rabbit do you have? Ivermectin can be toxic to some types of rabbits specifically blue eyed whites and dutch rabbits.



Thank you ALL for your responses. I will buy revolution tmrw. Are the little pipettes or things they come in classified by weight like frontline? If so, I imagine I would put the smallest one available? Do i put it all on the back of the neck or just half. Dont want to put too much.

I know it sounds awful but I dont know my type of rabbit. I think its from where I am based (Dubai). Its not a dwarf and its not a red eyed white rabbit.

I have been putting vegetable oil on it and it doesn't seem to do much albeit only have done it once a day for two days now. Also, it doesn't effect him as he seems to just sit there and not lick his paws.

I will keep you all updated, thank you for your responses.


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## mr.bunny (Jul 13, 2013)

Watermelons said:


> Can you not get him Revolution? Dose at 18mg/kg



I shall try this, thank you.


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## mr.bunny (Jul 13, 2013)

Watermelons said:


> Revolution is designed for the treatment of Mange mites, and has been used successfully for the treatment of mange for many years.
> Its much safer to administer and doesn't require the rabbit to have regular injections as its a simple topical application. However It may be best to give the first 2-3 doses within 2 weeks rather then once a month due to the severity of the issue at hand.




Thanks for your response, sweetheart.


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## Watermelons (Jul 13, 2013)

Find out the weight of your rabbit and dose according to that. The cat and dog doses are.much lower then what we would give a rabbit especially one wth a case as bad as this sounds. 18mg/kg. So no you cant go by whats on the box youll have to do some math.


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## mr.bunny (Jul 14, 2013)

I have revolution here and its 15mg a pipette. I read that the drug used in this (selamectin) should be give 6mg/kg. My bunny is 1.3kg. So I basically give half of one? Will a full one be ok for him/be better as he has the problem quite badly?


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## Watermelons (Jul 14, 2013)

A typical dog and cat dose is 6mg/kg. Rabbits have a very fast metabolism in comparison. Rabbits dose can vary from 6mg/kg-18mg/kg. If you dose at the low end now and it does nothing, all youre doing is allowing the bugs to get used to the drug and become in a sense immune to it. Youre better off dosing at the high end. Revolution is really safe as even 10x the high dose. Rabbits can also work it out of their system much quicker then dogs and cats can so your rabbit will need to be dosed again much sooner (2 weeks) rather then 1 month.
Give the whole tube, but even that is still on the low end for a proper dose.


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## mr.bunny (Jul 14, 2013)

Watermelons said:


> A typical dog and cat dose is 6mg/kg. Rabbits have a very fast metabolism in comparison. Rabbits dose can vary from 6mg/kg-18mg/kg. If you dose at the low end now and it does nothing, all youre doing is allowing the bugs to get used to the drug and become in a sense immune to it. Youre better off dosing at the high end. Revolution is really safe as even 10x the high dose. Rabbits can also work it out of their system much quicker then dogs and cats can so your rabbit will need to be dosed again much sooner (2 weeks) rather then 1 month.
> Give the whole tube, but even that is still on the low end for a proper dose.



Thank you so much, you're a star.

:highfive:


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## ladysown (Jul 14, 2013)

WAY too much ivermectin.

One treatment, then 10 days later do it again and DONE.

He is most likely now suffering the affects of ivermectin poisoning and he may or may not come back from it.


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## mr.bunny (Jul 19, 2013)

ladysown said:


> WAY too much ivermectin.
> 
> One treatment, then 10 days later do it again and DONE.
> 
> He is most likely now suffering the affects of ivermectin poisoning and he may or may not come back from it.



Accidentally wrote it wrong, I meant it should receive that amount over a space of about 45-55 days. I meant to say once a week. Sorry about that.

I am not sure if he is getting better, he seems a bit more lively but I now see that he has little brown clumps sticking out from his nose and under his mouth which im almost sure is the mites. I thought the revolution and ivermectin was supposed to kill these mites.

:-(


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## ladysown (Jul 19, 2013)

are you sure he has mites and not a fungal infection? *just thinking cause you said his feet were badly crusted....and that doesn't sound like mites, that sounds more fungal.


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## mr.bunny (Jul 19, 2013)

ladysown said:


> are you sure he has mites and not a fungal infection? *just thinking cause you said his feet were badly crusted....and that doesn't sound like mites, that sounds more fungal.



The vet said it was mange. We scraped a bit of skin off and looked at it through a microscope and saw 5-6 little mites moving about. What type of fungal infection could it be? I have to say, I thought it was getting better but today I was looking at him and it seems to have gotten worse. His tail is crusty and his feet and back hind legs are still very poorly. Now he has some brown stuff sticking out under his mouth and also on the side of his mouth. His ears are ok for now and the rest of the fur is nice and clean, not falling out, etc.

Is there anything I could wash him with everyday? Baby shampoo? Medicated shampoo for cats/dogs or is that too much?

Last question is, would it get so bad where its just a point of no return and have my bunny put down? I would be so saddened if that was a recommendation.

I thought this ivermectin injection course was supposed to KILL the mites, it seems as though its getting worse as though they are growing.

I am desperate for answers and please tell me anything else i can do to save his little sole. :-(


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## ladysown (Jul 19, 2013)

they are obviously resistent to the ivermectin so you need to use something else to kill them.

have you tried dosing him in oil? In essence you drown the little suckers.


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## Watermelons (Jul 19, 2013)

Please dont bath your bunny in anything like that.

You did a low dose of revolution so its hard to say if that.will just help the mites get used to the drug rather then kill them. this is why its so important to dose rabbits properly.


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## bunnychild (Jul 19, 2013)

I've used olive oil to help with mites, and it really works. I was amazed. Keep in mind though that this was a slight case on the ears.


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## missyscove (Jul 19, 2013)

I'm not sure that I would use both ivermectin and selamectin. The drugs are pretty similar. 

I tihnk your rabbit could have an infection secondary to the mites. It's great that you did a skin scraping to confirm the mites and the ivermectin should take care of those. 
I'd talk to your vet about a pain reliever or possibly even a steroid to help with the other skin issues developing.


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## ladysown (Jul 19, 2013)

> Please dont bath your bunny in anything like that.



NO.. you are NOT bathing the rabbit in the oil (veggie oil)

It is a tried and true method for killing off mites. (normally used for ear mites) but if these are mites in other body areas, then you need to get rid of them for the sake of the rabbit.

The description is that this rabbit has mites.
the mites are spreading
ergo the treatment is not working.

Therefore go to a non-medicated approach and get rid of the mites.


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## tonyshuman (Jul 19, 2013)

I personally do not take my rabbit's health into my own hands despite all I read; I see a vet first and then verify what they say with my own research. I know that not everyone can do the appropriate research and make an informed decision. My profession is as a research scientist in biomedical areas so I have the background to read scientific articles and texts thoroughly and make appropriate decisions based on them. Veterinarians are trained to translate the science into practice. That is why the word of a veterinarian, if they are staying up-to-date and were trained well, trumps all. I also do not find the scientific evidence or rationale for the "drown the parasites in oil" treatment to be very compelling. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence, but that is all.

In this particular case, it sounds like the rabbit may have another issue going on. It is quite common for rabbits to have fungal or bacterial infections in the mouth and genital area. One obvious example would be rabbit syphillis, and the broken skin caused by the mange mites could have also opened up the possibility of an active, opportunistic infection by one of the species of yeast and/or bacteria that are commonly found on the skin of a healthy rabbit. I would encourage another skin scraping, with a focus instead looking for microscopic pathogens instead of just the larger multicellular parasites.


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## mr.bunny (Aug 23, 2013)

Just to update anyone who was having the same issues regarding the mange/mites. I used ivermectin 0.2ml on my 2kg rabbit for about 5 weeks. Each injection every Monday. Also, I put a puppy/kitten revolution (selamectin) on his neck and repeated it after two weeks and then stopped. I washed the affected areas with hibiscrub and made sure i gave it a good scrub. I washed the nose, hocks and in between his paws. About 5-6 weeks after the first injection, my rabbit now looks fantastic again. His paws are normal, no crust at all, hair has grown back in the hocks which were red raw and a massive lump of dried skin fell off his nose to reveal his cute little nose again! Luckily the mites didn't get to his ears so they stayed fine and basically everything got better. A small little scar like area still remains on the nose but other than that, so so happy. I think the hibiscrub really helped out too. So happy to see him happy. Thanks for all your help.


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