Ivermectin - ages & lactation

[Rosalaun]

I'm having a bit of an outbreak of fur mites at the moment, so am looking to just dose all of my rabbits with an appropriate amount of Ivomec once it finally arrives! One of the does has a litter at a little over 3 weeks - is it safe to treat her while she's still feeding the kits? I also have one doe that's very recently been bred if anyone has any experience on that front.

Also I'd like to treat all the babies we have just in case, what would be the best course of action here? Is Ivomec safe for 3 week olds or should I wait a little, and would I be best dosing them properly according to weight (probably about 200g currently), or just go for the 'one drop per bun' route? I was planning on giving the adults orally, but given the tiny dose it may be easier just topically for the smaller ones.
Thanks in advance!

 

[michaels4gardens]

I use injectable sub-q on all rabbits -I personally have had no trouble.. I use bovine injectable ivermectin, -1 to 1.5 ml for adult meat rabbits. I treat young rabbits according to weight based on the adult dosage - with fur mites- a couple of treatments a couple or 3 weeks apart is usually what it takes

 

[LittleFluffyBunnies]

I've never used out on kits younger than 3 months but I did use Ivomec 1% orally in a doe who was 10 days pregnant, I believe, and she went on to kindle 8 healthy kits, so no issues there.

 

[Rosalaun]

Thank you both - I've been told of the 1% ivomec to use 0.04ml per kg, and to re-dose after 10 days. They are all small breed rabbits (mini rex and britannia petite) so I think 1ml would be a little much!

I'm a little concerned about injecting and overdosing the babies with them (by this dosage) needing 0.008ml! So was thinking the drop-on-skin would be easier? If it is safe for them to be given at nearly 4 weeks old. Very glad to hear I can dose the pregnant girl, really want to get everybody done just in case...

 

[akane]

I have always gotten away with not dosing the babies themselves and just doing all adults including pregnant or nursing. It usually clears up on the kits/pups (also dosed guinea pigs and gerbils with litters) without needing to do very young babies. I have done few week old guinea pigs but they bake an extra month and come out ready to run so a 2-3week old is closer to a 6week old rabbit or any of the rodents not from South America.

I never inject ivermectin. It does not work any better in studies of dogs to smaller mammals and just might work a little faster if you have a severe case that needs immediate relief. It should all absorb into the skin within hours and then spread through the body that day without losing a noticeable amount of the dose.

 

[AmberRae]

I have used the 1% injectable. It has had no negative effects on my pregnant or nursing does. Also, it is very safe and tolerable for rabbits. It is one of the most used medicines on my farm.

 

[akane]

Also, it is very safe and tolerable for rabbits. It is one of the most used medicines on my farm.

I have not had it happen using ivermectin on various small and large breeds but it is well known some rabbits can react badly to it. People have lost a good portion of their herd due to the whole line being sensitive to ivermectin. It seems to show up mostly in breeds like Dutch. Age and pregnancy status don't really seem to make a difference in those cases though. Either it runs in your line and they react or they all fine.

 

[Rosalaun]

Thanks for the input, my main thought with the youngsters is getting them treated before they start getting reserved by pet owners! There are 2 sister does in with one litter of 7, and both does are showing signs so I don't know if I'd get away with not treating them directly. I think I may just have to risk it and wait a week before advertising them just in case.

Interesting to note the studies from a research perspective, admittedly I have looked but there's plenty of not-so-useful papers to crawl through, and I've yet to find reference to young rabbits. The vast majority of my rabbits are unrelated, so if we are unlucky with a bad reaction, there's no way of knowing if it'll hit certain rabbits! Just a risk we'll have to take there. I do know pet breeders over here like to sell rabbits as being 'wormed and flea'd', but I have a feeling they're using generic drops rather than ivomec.

 

[guardianoasis]

We've always followed the 1 ml rule for adult rabbits although with us growing into a commercial style rabbitry I've been thinking more about our process. To piggy back on your post, how often do people treat their rabbits for mites? Every rabbit coming in gets treated when it shows up on our farm regardless of if it shows signs of ear/fur mites before it goes into quarantine. After that though, it's hit or miss how often I treat them. I haven't had any outbreaks yet although I'm sure it'll happen one day. We've been removing all the wood in the rabbitry and our bedding is kiln dried pellets so the only way they could come in is the hay, which is compacted and packaged.... or new breeding animals.

 

[akane]

I've never seen skin parasites on rabbits so I did not treat anything for it or on a consistent schedule. I did have colony rabbits on the ground including in stalls that had recently contained horses and a probable e.cuniculi infection. The only thing I've treated all new animals is guinea pigs because mites are exceedingly common and near impossible to rule out even with skin scrapings. If it acts uncomfortable it's safer to dose them and every new one you get but I haven't really heard of frequent issues with rabbits around here. My concern was more internal parasites from being on solid surfaces around other livestock and pest rodents.

People may be using advantage to treat pet rabbits now that it is available at pet stores. Along with many generics using the same chemical. You can also use revolution but because it treats heartworm in dogs it is only available from vets for heartworm tested dogs in the US. I get mine shipped from Australia. It's related to ivermectin but often more effective, lasts about a month, and has a broader range of parasites it kills so I use it on nearly everything now that I can get it without a vet. Since I don't routinely treat anything but the dogs it is not that cost prohibitive to measure out of a large dog tube.