Ivermectin and Ear mites

I searched and I know there are multiple threads on this, but none answer my questions.

Two of our rabbits have ear mites, but we plan to treat them all. I have a bottle of mineral oil that I bought for this purpose/preventative.

Since they already have the mites and I can see in their ear is pretty crusty, I’d like to treat them with ivermectin to clear it up quick and then use the oil as preventative in the future and hopefully not have to deal with them again.

When we got the rabbits, the farmer injected them with ivermectin and said they’d be good for a year and that he does that once a year. Being new to rabbits, I believed him. Here we are 3.5 months later and two have ear mites already.

I only have the horse paste (Panomec), not the injectable or pour on. This forum says to give a pea size amount once, then again in 14 days and again 14 days later to cover the full life cycle.

Is it okay to breed while treating with ivermectin? Or is there a specific amount of time you should wait? This paste says not to give to horses that are intended for meat, so does that mean the rabbit or its offspring (if it gets into their system in utero or via milk) could never be eaten? Like what’s the safety period for humans to eat the meat or can they?

What do y’all do for prevention? Would oil in the ears once a month suffice, Or?

I have only had an issue with ear mites one time. I had bought a Flemish doe and just a few days after getting her she had horrible crusty ears. We tried oil first, Olive Oil, I believe it was. That did nothing. So I gave her a pea sized amount one time and within 24 hours her ears were completely clean and I never had another issue. If you are going to eat the rabbit, I would wait 30 days after last treatment with Ivermectin. I know in cattle the withholding period is 28 days.
I have never used the pour on or injectable, just the paste used for deworming my horses.
I'm not sure what would be a good preventive. I think that comes down to just keeping the cage clean, removing old bedding, quarantining new rabbits.
I would not use it if the doe could be pregnant. I would wait 30 days before breeding her.

JG3 said:

This paste says not to give to horses that are intended for meat, so does that mean the rabbit or its offspring (if it gets into their system in utero or via milk) could never be eaten? Like what’s the safety period for humans to eat the meat or can they?

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I can tell you one thing, that the reason they put that on the label is that since horses aren't typically used for meat (in the US) that they don't NEED to do the testing to find the safe withdrawal period and therefore can save money, but, because the testing has not been done, they will not accept liability if someone uses it "off label" and gets sick as a result. That's the only reason that disclaimer is on stuff for horses, it's simply much cheaper to not test and just tell people not to eat the animal.

You do realize that Ivermectin is approved for human use. I have ivermectin cream and ivermectin pills for rosacea.

bevagorman said:

You do realize that Ivermectin is approved for human use. I have ivermectin cream and ivermectin pills for rosacea.

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Yes, I know that. My concern wasnt just the ivermectin, because I know cattle, sheep, goat etc stuff says you can eat the meat or milk etc after so long and it’s used on humans. I didn’t know if there was something different about the horse paste because it stated not for use on horses intended for meat. There is no ingredient list stating what else it’s made of, only that the active ingredient is ivermectin. So I didn’t know why it stated that. Hence my question.
We gave it to them and their ears are looking great!

Ivermectin is great for clearing up ear mites! I was shocked at how fast it worked. I had gotten a cute little Lop from Orschelns and he got digestive issues; diarrhea, then bloating, had a pot belly, etc so I dewormed him with it and after a couple days he was back to normal and hasn't had any issues since.

Is it a pea size amount no matter their age or weight? One of our does is starting to have a little bit of a yellowish crust in her ears and I’m suspicious of ear mites but I’ve also never dewormed or given any other treatments since getting my 7 rabbits over the last few months from different breeders.

For an adult I would do a pea sized amount. For babies under 3 months, I would wait to use it.

Estrella said:

Is it a pea size amount no matter their age or weight? One of our does is starting to have a little bit of a yellowish crust in her ears and I’m suspicious of ear mites but I’ve also never dewormed or given any other treatments since getting my 7 rabbits over the last few months from different breeders.

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I didn’t even do a full pea size for my 10-13lb adults. Maybe a baby pea. Just put a little smear on a popsicle stick and wiped it on their lips and they licked it off to groom and clean themselves. Scabs were clearly falling off next day and almost fully gone one. Will repeat two more doses, 2 weeks apart each time to cover the mite life cycle.

The first time I had an ear mite incident, I used garlic infused olive oil. It worked but the rabbit really didn't like it. It takes longer (I've learned since) because any kind of oil is working by smothering the mites. Ivermectin, however applied, gets into the system and kills them. You reapply to catch the next hatching (which doesn't always happen because when I didn't know that, I have treated once and it was done). I don't have the link handy but I have read a scientific type paper on there being a wide safety range with the stuff hence differing advice on the amount. But a little goes a long way and it's definitely what I would use now if I go ta bad infestation. I have two does I treated recently where the mites had made patches on their skin behind the ears. OKay, I am not certain it is the exact same mites but what I do know is that the ivermectin cleared it up. I have used both the pour on and the paste. I like the paste best now because just a little smear will do the trick and that doesn't aggravate like drops down in the ear can sometimes.