Rearguard

Do people use this? Is it generally considered safe?

I have a 9 year old dental bunny and I struggle to keep her weight up. I've been feeding foods such as oats and fruit and recovery foods regularly in an attempt to get weight on her, and I think her diet is leading to a bit of a mucky bum. To the point where I had to take her to the vets and have the nurses clip her fur this morning! She is quite a fluffy lion head so she isn't easy to clean up. And she is also on a low calcium diet for health reasons, so that limits me with how I try and get extra calories into her

I can't really change her diet as she is already underweight, and I don't want her to lose more weight but it's becoming a regular issue now. Rearguard was mentioned to me this morning so I said I would consider it. I've always stayed away from things like this so don't know any awful lot about how safe it is

My rabbits are free range house rabbits. I use the buzz off spray in their bedroom on the blinds etc to try and deter flies

sillyrabbit said:

Do people use this? Is it generally considered safe?

I have a 9 year old dental bunny and I struggle to keep her weight up. I've been feeding foods such as oats and fruit and recovery foods regularly in an attempt to get weight on her, and I think her diet is leading to a bit of a mucky bum. To the point where I had to take her to the vets and have the nurses clip her fur this morning! She is quite a fluffy lion head so she isn't easy to clean up. And she is also on a low calcium diet for health reasons, so that limits me with how I try and get extra calories into her

I can't really change her diet as she is already underweight, and I don't want her to lose more weight but it's becoming a regular issue now. Rearguard was mentioned to me this morning so I said I would consider it. I've always stayed away from things like this so don't know any awful lot about how safe it is

My rabbits are free range house rabbits. I use the buzz off spray in their bedroom on the blinds etc to try and deter flies

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I have known several rabbits who have died within days of application

I know it's vet recommended and all that, but I for one would never use it on my rabbits!

Why is your little one not eating her soft poos?

Rearguard is expensive, difficult to apply and no use if you have to give your rabbit a bum bath as it needs re-applying. As she is inside, I wouldn't think she is that much at risk from flystrike. Something like a UV light insect zapper in her room should be enough, along with checking her over twice a day.

If you really need to apply something, look at F10 wound spray with insecticide (as long as it will not come into contact with cats). It can be applied as needed, does the same job and is much easier and cheaper to use.

http://www.meadowsah.com/home/f10-treatment-products.html

If she is getting a dirty bum her diet should be adjusted as she won't be getting the best nutrition out of what she is eating. To keep weight on older rabbits, some people use breeder or junior pellets instead of standard ones. They are designed for growing or nursing rabbits, but work for situations like yours as well.

Is she inside? If so it's lower risk anyway and fly netting might be a better option. It's just the blow flies that are an issue which are quite big so the netting will stop them. Keeping her clipped will probably help a lot, makes them look weird but trimming regularly now it's short will make it easier for you and her to clean.

I would also be very very wary of using F10 on a rabbit, and definitely if regularly. People here on RU have had severe cases of 'burn' on their rabbit's legs and bums through using the stuff.

I think checking and cleaning seem to be the safest options, as well as mesh and fly zappers.

I still wonder why your rabbit isn't eating her soft poos :?

I don't need to apply anything, I was only asking about the rearguard specifically as it was mentioned by the nurse to me yesterday that's fine, I will give it a miss, and I'm certainly not looking for anything to use instead of it

Mesh is a good idea, I will have to see if I can put some up somehow in their bedroom, I'm not really allowed to fix anything to the walls but I will definitely look into it

She is generally eating her soft poos with no problems hun :wave: it's just maybe once or twice a month I would say, she seems to get diarreah (no idea how to spell it!), I'm almost certain it's because I'm feeding her a lot of treats and things like puréed fruit etc. She was loving the recovery food up until a few months ago, which is when this started really, and I think that's what was really maintaining her weight. But she has now completely gone off it and won't eat it, so I'm finding I am trying to make up for that with other foods, and she seems to occasionally be getting a bit of a dodgy tummy I'm trying to be so careful, but it's so hard to get the balance right. She is already underweight and can't really afford to lose any more

The calcium content and some ingredients in most breeder/junior pellets are not suitable for her. Plus she was on the oxbow junior pellets up until we put her on a low calcium diet last year, and we struggled to keep weight on her while she was on those pellets too

sillyrabbit said:

I don't need to apply anything, I was only asking about the rearguard specifically as it was mentioned by the nurse to me yesterday that's fine, I will give it a miss, and I'm certainly not looking for anything to use instead of it

Mesh is a good idea, I will have to see if I can put some up somehow in their bedroom, I'm not really allowed to fix anything to the walls but I will definitely look into it

She is generally eating her soft poos with no problems hun :wave: it's just maybe once or twice a month I would say, she seems to get diarreah (no idea how to spell it!), I'm almost certain it's because I'm feeding her a lot of treats and things like puréed fruit etc. She was loving the recovery food up until a few months ago, which is when this started really, and I think that's what was really maintaining her weight. But she has now completely gone off it and won't eat it, so I'm finding I am trying to make up for that with other foods, and she seems to occasionally be getting a bit of a dodgy tummy I'm trying to be so careful, but it's so hard to get the balance right. She is already underweight and can't really afford to lose any more

The calcium content and some ingredients in most breeder/junior pellets are not suitable for her. Plus she was on the oxbow junior pellets up until we put her on a low calcium diet last year, and we struggled to keep weight on her while she was on those pellets too

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No, I realise you weren't asking for alternatives Just that as I spotted someone had mentioned F10 I had to chip in as it can be corrosive :shock:

I have had the weight loss/feeding with an elder rabbit and it's difficult to get the balance. I have had a floor covered in cecals :shock: But feeding veg like parsnip, butternut squash, celeriac, turnip, swede etc has seemed to work OK without overloading on the pellets.

Good luck :wave:

MightyMax said:

No, I realise you weren't asking for alternatives Just that as I spotted someone had mentioned F10 I had to chip in as it can be corrosive :shock:

I have had the weight loss/feeding with an elder rabbit and it's difficult to get the balance. I have had a floor covered in cecals :shock: But feeding veg like parsnip, butternut squash, celeriac, turnip, swede etc has seemed to work OK without overloading on the pellets.

Good luck :wave:

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Oh the F10 comment was me replying to the first mention of it :wave: it's good that you mentioned there may also be an issue with that, we all need to be aware of these thins. Sorry if I came across as rude, I was half asleep when I replied

She won't have any of those you've mentioned unfortunately, I can get her to eat a bit of squash, but she loses interest very quickly and doesn't finish it

I find it so concerning that rearguard is recommended by vets! I have my girls on a program where I pay a set amount each month and they get their check ups, vaccinations, panacur etc and I know rearguard is automatically included in that, I've always just said I don't want it

Thanks for the help x

Rearguard does work - it just has a few practical down sides, and it is exposing the rabbit to potentially unnecessary chemicals. If you are already paying for it, you could keep some in just in case you ever need it. Both Rearguard and F10 will kill maggots. Rearguard shouldn't be used on broken skin, and is only for, well, the rear end. F10 wound spray with insecticide can be used on open wounds and on any part of the body. I used it on an outdoor rabbit with major dental issues and a surgically open wound on the jaw. She attracted flies to the wound but was very unhappy / depressed if she was indoors - so the F10 gave her the quality of life she wanted (bouncing round the front garden) with a much reduced risk of flystrike.

It is still better to manage a flystrike risk by not attracting flies (bluebottle types) in the first place (general hygiene and a clean bum), keeping them out / away if they are attracted (mesh / UV light), and regular checking of the rabbit (at least twice a day) to catch it early. Eggs can hatch surprisingly quickly (in a few hours) in warm weather.

Thanks for the info :wave: I was sure I've heard of bad reactions that's why I was asking, I'm sure it's effective at deterring flies though I'm quite fussy when it comes to putting things on my pets or giving things to my pets, I don't feel comfortable risking bad reaction to anything, especially in an older animal

I do check them both multiple times a day, and obviously practise good hygiene with all my pets. I don't think a uv lamp would work, there is nowhere in the room to put one, and I'm not allowed to attach any fixtures to the walls to put up a shelf for example. I will definitely look into trying to put mesh up on their window though. We do often have the back door open in the summer as my cat plays outside when we are home, so we do get flies in the house during spring/summer. The rabbits bedroom door is also always left open when we are home so flies do get in there sometimes. Like I said I use the buzz off spray regularly in their room, and I groom them both with Assisi grooming lotion which is a natural repellent

I'm not overly concerned to be honest, I've always been quite diligent re the risk of fly strike and have never had a rabbit effected by it I will carry on with what I am doing

Many years ago I had a bunny, Casper with Flystrike. My mum took her to the vet and they covered her underneath with something pinky coloured (this was 20 odd years ago so I don't know if rearguard was around then?) and she died a few days later Her overweight sister (this makes me sound a terrible bunny owner!) also had flystrike and I dealt with it myself taking them off and constant checking and I got rid of them all. I always wondered if whatever the vet put on Casper caused her to die (she also had an injection to kill any incase they had got into her) as she was perfectly happy and heathy before it (apart from the flystrike). I don't think I would use it myself just incase.

Now all these years later we have house bunnies so not as much risk, but I bought some netting for the windows that goes up with stick on Velcro. It does make the window frame a bit sticky when it comes off but with some elbow grease and maybe some sticky stuff remover it would come off easily. I bought mine in the 99p shop one summer and also on Amazon. It seems to do a good job! I also bought a kids fishing net again from the 99p shop to catch any that get in if people have left the front door open! My neighbours must think I am nuts taking a fishing net out releasing flies. I am quite good at it now :lol:

ETA This was it although from a different seller (there are loads on there)

http://http://www.amazon.co.uk/chinkyboo-Window-Screen-Mosquito-Netting/dp/B007W95TIK/ref=sr_1_1?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1458408833&sr=1-1&keywords=Fly+net

We also had a JML snap screen net for the conservatory door if we wanted that open. That was pretty good too.