# Best treatment for ear mites?!?



## vek555 (Jan 29, 2013)

Early stages of ear mites in my 6 pound male mini lop. I want whatever's most likely to actually work


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## LakeCondo (Jan 29, 2013)

Food-grade diatomaceous earth is what I'd apply.


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## tonyshuman (Jan 29, 2013)

I would use selamectin or ivermectin. They will kill the bugs, which is the thing you want most. Treat every 14 days until they go away, as it will only kill adult mites and not the eggs. Use caution for dutch or blue-eyed bunnies. I am not a fan of the diatomaceous earth products because I don't want anything potentially irritating in their ears, which are very sensitive.
http://medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/earmite/Psoroptes.htm


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## vek555 (Jan 29, 2013)

Thanks so much! Are either of these over the counter or should I just ask my vet specifically for one of them?


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## vek555 (Jan 29, 2013)

And by the way, would this be topical or oral?


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## tonyshuman (Jan 29, 2013)

Selamectin is topical, ivermectin is oral or injected. Ivermectin for livestock can be purchased but there are issues with using that including getting the dosing right. Selamectin is only by prescription usually (Revolution).


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## LakeCondo (Jan 29, 2013)

tonyshuman said:


> I would use selamectin or ivermectin. They will kill the bugs, which is the thing you want most. Treat every 14 days until they go away, as it will only kill adult mites and not the eggs. Use caution for dutch or blue-eyed bunnies. I am not a fan of the diatomaceous earth products because I don't want anything potentially irritating in their ears, which are very sensitive.
> http://medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/earmite/Psoroptes.htm



DE is soft as talcum powder & not capable of serious harm the way these chemicals are.


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## vek555 (Jan 30, 2013)

The idea of oral ivermectin is attractive because there's no way I can mess that up. (On the other hand with DE I might not apply it right...) How long and how often should I dose? I'm sure my vet will give me instructions but he's not a rabbit expert so I'm asking you guys too


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## woahlookitsme (Jan 30, 2013)

since no one has given a dosage. mine isnt calculated but we always put two-three drops in each ear and repeat in 2 weeks if needed. One treatment usually takes care of it.

Heres an actual dose
Ivomec, ivermectin 1% (the product sold for cattle and horses)
The tested dosage for rabbits is 0.018 cc per lb of live weight
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/507559/ivermectin-for-rabbits


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## tonyshuman (Jan 30, 2013)

It is often not a good idea to give direct dosing information, so instead I linked to a site that does.


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## woahlookitsme (Jan 30, 2013)

Oh NICE! i must have missed your link. That is an awesome one! Ill have to bookmark it. Sorry yes use the website Claire gave


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## vek555 (Jan 30, 2013)

One more question: how do the costs of selamectin and ivermectin compare?


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## woahlookitsme (Jan 30, 2013)

since selamectin can only be purchased through a veterinarian it will be more expensive. A bottle of ivomec can be purchased at a Tractor Supply or feed store and is less in cost. They both work either way


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## Sweetie (Jan 31, 2013)

When Sweetie had ear mites for the second time and I could not get her to the vet to have her treated for ear mites, mineral oil was suggested. You have to apply it in their ears every day, once a day, for three weeks. Three weeks is how long the ear mites life cycle is, that way you kill them all. Revolution will also work, I had to get Pudden weighed and the dosage for him, and I applied some revolution on him and he didn't get ear mites while I was treating Sweetie with mineral oil. I didn't have revolution at the time I was treating Sweetie for ear mites.

Mineral oil is so much safer to put in the rabbits ears than anything else. Use a q-tip to apply the mineral oil to the rabbit's ears. You have to get inside but don't go too far or you will puncture the ear drum.


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## missyscove (Jan 31, 2013)

It's a bit trickier to get the dosing right when buying ivermectin intended for large animals and using it in small ones. If you have a vet you visit regularly who has seen your rabbit, they may sell you the revolution (selamectin) without another exam. It's applied topically like you would frontline (but NEVER use frontline/fipronil on a rabbit) or advantage on your dog or cat, but it is also effective against the ear mites.


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## woahlookitsme (Feb 1, 2013)

safest thing is to not use a q-tip . . .


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## tonyshuman (Feb 1, 2013)

I don't personally like using mineral oil to treat ear mites as it is usually not very effective and it can be dangerous to put things in rabbits' ears that don't evaporate with time, like heavy oils. These can trap other things in the ear, such as bacteria, leading to a secondary infection.


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## majorv (Feb 1, 2013)

Dosing for ivomec isn't needed if you don't give it orally...a couple of drops in the ears. I know many who do it that way.


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## Geoff (Feb 3, 2013)

dosing most certain IS needed no matter the route of ivermectin! It is a potentially very toxic drug if overdosed so please pay attention to your dosing! Oral is absobed about as well as injectably, so overdosing a rabbit orally can have just as serious of consequences as overdosing injectably. This is a very potent neurologic toxin and I have seen several cases of overdosing not go well (usually a decimal point error which leads to animals getting a dose 10x the recommended dose- often high enough to cause seizures, severe depression etc.... please do your math carefully or have a veterinarian prescribe this for you). Rabbits fortunately seem pretty tolerant of this drug at the proper doses -doses for Ivermectin are widely published so I will just repeat them here to clear the curious 'mystery' of this situation: 0.2mg/kg -0.4mg/kg once. It can be repeated in a week or two if needed (often a second dose is needed for severe cases of ear mites). The 0.2 mg/kg dose is actually the standard dose of Ivermecton for most animals (mammals, birds and reptiles)... which tells you one thing.. no one has really done the research to find out what the best dose actually is, but that this dose seems rather safe for most animals (though NOT for all- very toxic to collies and related breed dogs, bad for tortoises, bad for many species of lizard, bad for a few species of birds). Sadly most doses (esily over 95%) for exotic animals are not based on any real research but on trial and error (lots of errors sometimes) or extrapolations from a few animal studies in other species (usually dogs or large animals) or even from doses given to humans. Then doses that seem to work (or sometimes not work at all really but did not kill the patient) are published... and these doses are repeated throughout the literature and before you know it, they are written 'in stone'... sometimes if you only knew. But those of us that treat exotics animals simply have nothing else to go on other than these published 'doses'. It may turn out that rabbit ear mites can be treated effectively with much smaller doses for all I know, or that doubling the dose can be safe and more effective. But I am not the one going to experiment.


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## Sweetie (Feb 3, 2013)

Claire: mineral oil is effective against ear mites. I had to use it with Sweetie because I didn't have the money to take her in to get her ivermectin injections. I used the mineral oil for three weeks, the life cycle of the ear mites. She hasn't had them since. Remember when Prince passed away, and she got sick. I didn't have the money to take her in and I asked on the group what I can use for her ear mites, mineral oil was suggested. The reason why I didn't have the money is because I used the last of my care credit on Prince for his cremation and such. But mineral oil does work on ear mites and Sweetie is doing fantastic.

I agree with Geoff. Dosage is very important with anything with rabbits. Especially revolution needs to be dosed correctly because it can be dangerous for the rabbit if it is overdosed. Underdosing the revolution would be ineffective. So yes you have to go with correct dosage with anything that you give to an animal. Overdosing can kill animals as it can kill us humans.


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## majorv (Feb 3, 2013)

Geoff, I think you may have misunderstood my post. I agree that dosing matters; however, I was just saying that an alternate way of administering ivomec for ear mites is by putting 1-2 drops in the ears. 

Also, could you convert the mg/kg dosing to ml/lb?


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## missyscove (Feb 4, 2013)

1 kg = 2.2 lb. 

The mg to ml can't be done without knowing the concentration of the drug you have on hand.


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## Flick (Feb 4, 2013)

Videos depicting veterinarians dealing with various rabbit health issues including ear mites can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/FastUpOnRabbitCare


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