My Wonderful Flea Adventure! *pics included, GRAPHIC*

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

when you treat her for .. make sure you do it again .. because those eggs are going to hatch.. Rabbits have very thick fur.. there were no way you can tell a rabbit has fleas until you notice like fur falling out. So now it is done and she will look like her self in no time.. It isn't her fault or yours.. You are posting here about it , so it shows you cares and have treated her.. Show pics in a few weeks and you will see how much of change it will be.

 

[OwnedByTheBuns]

Thanks all. I have treated her, and will treat her twice after this. And everyone else. Poor girl.

Honestly, I think I see a difference today. I will post pics to see if I am just making things up... I can't tell. But I might have overdosed her a teensy so that should actually help. Not like a fatal overdose.

Does anyone want to buy treats so I can save up flea money? I need to save up at least 70.00 for flea medication. I am being drained with all of these expenses.

healthy-rabbit-treats-t16449.html

Just PM me and I will make them as soon as I can.<br /><br />__________ Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:00 pm __________<br /><br />Will take pics tomorrow. I actually do think things might be looking up.

Here is the thing. I went out and bought this cat flea powder. "All natural". Are these ingredients okay?

 

[Cottie]

I would pure Dawn and flea comb. It's the only thing that ever worked for a pup we got with fleas. Fleas are like lice, in that they are becoming immune to the meds. You can't become immune to suffocating. =)

All else fails, maybe you could shave her?

 

[Frecs]

I've not dealt with fleas on rabbits. But, I have dealt with mutant fleas and dogs. When I say mutant fleas, I mean fleas that could not be killed with frontline, advantix, capstar, any variety of chemical flea shampoo, etc. We even had a friend get some pig-farm-strength pyrethrim and sprayed our yard (which is a measure of my desperation that I allowed chemicals to be sprayed). The fleas LAUGHED!!

What worked?

Borax and Beneficial Nematodes. And frequent baths and flea combings.

We covered everything in the house--floors and furniture--with borax, left it down 24 hours and vacuumed. Repeated this every few days. Borax is cheap and organic and kills fleas like nothing else including DE. The nematodes are not as inexpensive but not too horrible and they work in the yard to kill the flea larvae.

And, yes, essential oils (peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary, and lavender) work well as flea repellants. The thing is, essentials oils can be strong and I'm not sure how much to cut them to be safe and yet still effective on rabbits.

 

[OwnedByTheBuns]

You know what, I think I see a difference. This is Holly this morning.

 

[Frecs]

Yep, looking much better. I don't see little black poop specks and her fur doesn't look quite as rough. :-D

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Oooh! She looks much better already! :clap2:

I see you have put your new flea comb to work!

 

[OwnedByTheBuns]

LOL MSD, actually I haven't! I haven't taken it out of the house yet! But it sure does look like it!

I think she is looking better. Not as upset now, just stressed. Talking about myself, that is.<br /><br />__________ Fri Jul 26, 2013 1:48 pm __________<br /><br />Also, is Dawn dish soap okay for them? I figured since I have to dish the comb in soapy water that I would ask.

 

[Frecs]

Also, is Dawn dish soap okay for them? I figured since I have to dish the comb in soapy water that I would ask.

Dawn dish soap is used to clean oil off wild birds and other animals covered in crude oil when oil spills happen. Apparently, it does not hurt them if they ingest some...or at least not nearly as bad as the crude oil does!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I don't usually dip the comb- I just pull the fleas and debris off and drop it into the water. Also, I don't make the water sudsy, just add a drop or two to the water and stir gently.

If you prefer to dip the comb, use rubbing alcohol instead. You will probably want to wipe with a paper towel so you don't cause the flea poop to melt on the rabbit's fur.

Dawn is safe to use on animals, but you would want to rinse thoroughly afterwards. It is used to clean oil off of birds that are caught in oil spills.

Lol- Frecs beat me to it!

 

[Flemishstar]

OMG SHe looks soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Much better. YAY

 

[OwnedByTheBuns]

Isn't it crazy?!

 

[DitchDoc]

She's really looking wonderfully better already! WTG!!!

 

[OwnedByTheBuns]

Thanks!<br /><br />__________ Mon Jul 29, 2013 2:18 pm __________<br /><br />Her face fur is growing back!!! I can still see fleas crawling on her, but otherwise she is looking better. I fed everyone this morning, and I saw a lack mark on Holly's face. Took a closer look, and it is tiny baby furs coming in!

 

[Marinea]

Great update! Hope she continues to get prettier and prettier.

 

[Miss M]

:greatjob: Awesome! That's a BIG improvement, and so quickly!

I'll chime in too that the Dawn is safe. You need only enough in the bowl to break the surface tension of the water, though... like MSD said, a drop or two. You can put more, but a drop or two is enough to make the fleas sink and not hold onto an air bubble. They drown.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Her face fur is growing back!!!

Yay!

When I treated a couple of my rabbits for fur mites, the fur started growing within the week as well.

How's that for guilt-alleviation? Aren't rabbits the greatest?

 

[OwnedByTheBuns]

Well, it may be good news, but I can still watch fleas crawl around on their heads. So nope, rabbits are most certainly not the greatest. Expecially after finding out I can't use the HERBAL flea powder for them. It seems like anything you use can make them drop dead.

And obviously DE isn't cutting it, so I am going to spend 60 bucks on Advantage for everyone.

 

[squidpop]

Sorry if I'm repeating something someone already said because I didn't read the whole thread, but I think Revolution- the kind you get for cats/dogs in the right dose would be good for fleas because it stays in the blood stream and lasts for several weeks so as the flea eggs hatch out over the next few weeks they will get poisoned and die. But if Ivermectin stays in the blood stream maybe its just as effective. Some tests of revolution where done on rabbits and its proven to be safe. You shouldn't feel too bad, flea infestations can happen fast- I know I've had dogs that had no fleas one day- and walked through a patch of fleas the next and where covered and scratching themselves raw.

 

[OwnedByTheBuns]

Alright, well, I made this thread mostly to went and to answer other users' questions if they ever have flea problems. So I will write about the progression everyone has made. First of all, DE does NOT work for infestions. Not for me, anyway. It worked for the mites but not one stinking bit for the fleas. So my advice is to never use DE on fleas, it just doesn't work and you are wasting time and money. Also, I wouldn't use anything with a strong smell, or any kind of powder. Since bunnies are so vivid on grooming, powder doesn't seem to work and all it is going to do is cause them to trick you into thinking they have the dreaded P.

I will, for now on, use advantage if I have a problem. I have heard over and over again that Advantage II is absolutely AWFUL for rabbits, but it was fine for mine. I have used it more than twice on my rabbits and nothing bad ever happened. All it did was help. So, I treated my two adults, Holly and Tom, with Advantage II today (for cats over 9 lbs.). I used the whole thing just like you would with a cat and have not seen any effects at all on them.

I have been having some health problems for the past several months, maybe even years, and so I figured.. hey, maybe some good ole' fashioned grunt work would help.

Soooo, I went out and we all cleaned every nook and cranny of our huge barn, cleaned out EVERYTHING, tore up our rug we had in there and threw it away, burned all the straw and wood chips we cleaned out, and dusted everything. We are in the process of fogging it right now. OH, and the rabbits and goats and cats and dogs are outside, so no worries there.

I will post a pic of the advantage I used in a bit just so you know you are using the right one. Thanks for following my wonderful flea adventure by the way... LOL!!