Fleas

[Cotton Rabbitry]

Does anyone know of a way to get rid of fleas? My cousin brought over her pup and now my Double maned lion is an itchy boy.

 

[LoveMyBarnyard]

I wonder if Ivermectin would work for fleas since it is so effective with mites?

 

[Therese]

Food grade DE (diatomaceous earth) is one of the best natural insecticides.
Rub into fur, avoiding unnecessary dust in air (not good for lungs--yours or rabbits--to breathe in much)
Add a tsp to rabbit food for a week to get rid of the intestinal worms fleas can give through their bites.
It is very safe--"food grade" means people can take it internally.
Don't use the type they sell in pool stores because they treat it with heat and the resulting DE can harm you and your animals.
God bless you!

 

[LoveMyBarnyard]

Great to know! Maybe I could use it on my cats.

 

[Therese]

Great to know! Maybe I could use it on my cats.

Yes! We use it on all of our pets and livestock animals: cats, dogs, pet mice, goats, rabbits, pigs, chickens

Here is a quote from an authority on the safety of breathing DE:
I received an email from Larry Smith, the President of Earthworks, who wanted to clear up the misconception about any dangers of inhaling food grade diatomaceous earth – here’s what he wrote: ‘This is a misunderstanding about food grade DE. There are 2 kinds of DE—food grade and filter grade (used in swimming pool and other filters) Only the filter grade is dangerous to breathe. The “dangerous” part of DE is the amount of crystalline silica that is in it. Filter grade is 65% crystalline silica while food grade is less than 1/10 of 1%! The world health org. has said that diatomaceous earth is safe to breathe as long as the crystalline content is under 2%. Food grade is 20X lower than even that level!!’

So no need to be concerned about any danger associated with using DE for pets, bedding, consumption or anything else – as long as it’s FOOD GRADE! “
***********************************

Here's a link for a great article on lots of the uses of Food Grade DE: The Beginner's Guide To Diatomaceous Earth This includes a video on how to use DE for fleas.

By the way, you can pay about $3 a pound for a bag of the Food Grade DE for people ($28 for 10# on Amazon)....or get it for about $1 a pound in a 50# bag (of the same thing) from an animal feed supplier. I get mine off of Ebay (I took a screen shot of the exact item--best deal I can find: $69 for 50# and free shipping!) At that price, I can afford to use DE internally, on fur, on carpets, in boxes, etc. etc. etc. We even mix it with water to spray on the wood of our hutches to help "sanitize" when we want to move a new rabbit in. Works on bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, odors, etc.

Hope this info is helpful! It comes from lots of (painful) experience and lots of research!!! ;-)

God bless you! (And, thanks be to God for such an effective and safe remedy!)

 

[foxbunny]

I would recommend talking to your vet about getting flea medicine specific to bunnies. It’s the safest proven method of controlling fleas. Make sure to wash out your hutch, run, and all of the bedding in it, that’s where the fleas live when not on your animal. If you bunny lives on carpet, make sure to vacuum it daily to get rid of any fleas there. If you’re not careful in cleaning, the infestation can spread from your bunny to your whole house. Diatomaceous earth is iffy in rabbits- they have super sensitive skin, and it can cause micro tears in their lungs. Even the food grade stuff can, it’s not a problem for people, but rabbits are generally tend to be more frail. Inhaling dust of any kind is bad for everything, and constant lung inflammation causes a myriad of health issues down the line, so if you do decide to use it, absolutely do not use it regularly. I would also like to add the the diatomaceous earth does not act as a wormer. DE works by tearing small cuts in the parasites, then drying their insides out. Once ingested, it wettens and loses its ability to dry parasites out. It also becomes too diluted to do any actual harm to the worms- especially the big tapeworms caused by fleas.

 

[foxbunny]

You can use revolution for cats as a flea medicine. The dosage table is as follows:

Revolution is usually what vets prescribe because it has proven doses for small animals like rabbits, guinea pigs, rats etc.

 

[Scooter1A]

liquid ivermectin. 1 or 2 drops on their neck. done. good luck finding it, personally don't trust Amazon for anything anymore.

 

[Robochelle]

I wonder if Ivermectin would work for fleas since it is so effective with mites?

I can verify that it does, I've used it and the fleas were gone.

 

[Therese]

I can verify that it does, I've used it and the fleas were gone.

Thanks! Good to know about the Ivermectin since it has fewer side effects than the other topical flea remedies.

I used to put that gel on my dog until she got sick from it--and then we had reason to wonder what it was doing to us when we would pet her....Of course, the gel is poison...I don't think anyone denies that fact.

After that sad doggie debacle, we did some research and began using the food grade DE for our cats and dog...and our rugs, etc. if needed. It has worked well for almost 10 years and we are all in good health--breathing fine! No flea problems now, only an occasional itchy animal that reminds us that we should treat everyone.

A hint: you can't patent DE because it is a natural substance...therefore, there's "no money in it"....As you probably already know, that is often a factor in the advertising and mis-information that can float around. It sure can be tricky to "wade through" the false news to find what's true.

And, I really appreciate it when people cite an authority (at least their own experience) so it isn't just a bunch of opinions that provide no means of evaluating them. Thank you Robochelle!