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Fleas on rabbit!

Chantelle1708

Chantelle1708

Young Bun
I have a three month old doe. She has fleas, I don't know how as she lives indoors with only me but 7 days ago, i used the Beaphar rabbit flea treatment and treated my house. She still has fleas :cry: I have spoken with the vet who has advised that I need to wait at least 2 weeks then to use Advantage but in the meantime, what can i do? I am constantly cleaning and mopping to keep the house clean and her cage / living area but i want to ease her scratching.

She now also goes out in my back garden now and then which I suppose doesn't help.

Is there any thing any one can recommend ie shampoos? Sprays? I know you shouldn't bath bunnies but I have bathed her once and she seemed fine
 
Chantelle1708 said:
I have a three month old doe. She has fleas, I don't know how as she lives indoors with only me but 7 days ago, i used the Beaphar rabbit flea treatment and treated my house. She still has fleas :cry: I have spoken with the vet who has advised that I need to wait at least 2 weeks then to use Advantage but in the meantime, what can i do? I am constantly cleaning and mopping to keep the house clean and her cage / living area but i want to ease her scratching.

She now also goes out in my back garden now and then which I suppose doesn't help.

Is there any thing any one can recommend ie shampoos? Sprays? I know you shouldn't bath bunnies but I have bathed her once and she seemed fine
Click to expand...

Have you actually seen fleas on her ? Could it be mites rather than fleas ? If you are not sure I'd get the Vet to take a look so that the correct treatment can be given.

If it is fleas then Advantage for Rabbits is certainly the best treatment option. Personally I would not bath her or use any other type of spray on her. If she were to have mites then a course of Ivermectin injections/spot on treatments would be the treatment of choice.

Is Bunny vaccinated against Myxomatosis/RHD1 +RHD2 ? As you may know both of these nasty diseases can be spread via fleas.
 
At the moment, it looks like your best option is to physically remove as many fleas etc as you can on a daily basis.

You could try combing her every day with a very fine tooth comb (ie a human nit comb). It would remove quite a lot of the actual fleas, but not the eggs. Have somewhere that you can put any that you do remove, or they will jump away and re-infest her (eg tissues to squish them, or a bowl of water to drop them in). You can get battery operated nit combs (eg at Boots) which will zap any fleas that get caught between the metal prongs.

Vacuuming (not mopping) daily would help to clear eggs and young from the floor and soft furnishings. Make sure you get in all the cracks and behind furniture, etc where they would normally live undisturbed. Again, you need to dispose of the debris daily, or the fleas will just move back, eg bag and bin the waste.

I would follow the vet's advice regarding waiting before using a different treatment. Flea treatment use quite powerful chemicals and you can cause harm with an overdose.
 
Chantelle1708 said:
I have a three month old doe. She has fleas, I don't know how as she lives indoors with only me but 7 days ago, i used the Beaphar rabbit flea treatment and treated my house. She still has fleas :cry: I have spoken with the vet who has advised that I need to wait at least 2 weeks then to use Advantage but in the meantime, what can i do? I am constantly cleaning and mopping to keep the house clean and her cage / living area but i want to ease her scratching.

She now also goes out in my back garden now and then which I suppose doesn't help.

Is there any thing any one can recommend ie shampoos? Sprays? I know you shouldn't bath bunnies but I have bathed her once and she seemed fine
Click to expand...


Hi there

Sorry to hear you having problems with your rabbits.

Yes, if it's fleas then Advantage is the treatment of choice. Have you actually seen the fleas around the place and on her?

I wouldn't use anything on her until I knew for certain what was going on. The fur mite can cause itching:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/furmite/fur_mite.htm

A vet would be able to distinguish between them and see what's going on and treat accordingly. As she lives indoors with you, fleas would be uncommon to get, but not impossible :)
 
The vet confirmed it was fleas AFTER I used the beaphar treatment otherwise I would have waited and got advantage. Yes she has been fully vaccinated.

I do vaccum regular however combing her is a different story, she only allows me to do it when she wants me to which isn't often :roll: I will definitely purchase the battery nit comb though, least that way I know when i'm getting them out!
 
Chantelle1708 said:
The vet confirmed it was fleas AFTER I used the beaphar treatment otherwise I would have waited and got advantage. Yes she has been fully vaccinated.

I do vaccum regular however combing her is a different story, she only allows me to do it when she wants me to which isn't often :roll: I will definitely purchase the battery nit comb though, least that way I know when i'm getting them out!
Click to expand...


Oh OK I see!

Here's the product information:

Fleas are killed within one day following treatment. One treatment prevents further flea infestation for up to four weeks on dogs, three to four weeks on cats and up to one week on pet rabbits.

Re-infestation from emergence of new fleas in the environment may continue to occur for six weeks or longer after treatment is initiated. More than one treatment may therefore be required, depending on the level of fleas in the environment. To aid reduction in environmental challenge, the additional use of a suitable environmental treatment against adult fleas and their developing stages is recommended. In order to reduce further the environmental challenge, it is recommended that all dogs, cats and rabbits in the household are treated.
 
MightyMax said:
Oh OK I see!

Here's the product information:

Fleas are killed within one day following treatment. One treatment prevents further flea infestation for up to four weeks on dogs, three to four weeks on cats and up to one week on pet rabbits.

Re-infestation from emergence of new fleas in the environment may continue to occur for six weeks or longer after treatment is initiated. More than one treatment may therefore be required, depending on the level of fleas in the environment. To aid reduction in environmental challenge, the additional use of a suitable environmental treatment against adult fleas and their developing stages is recommended. In order to reduce further the environmental challenge, it is recommended that all dogs, cats and rabbits in the household are treated.
Click to expand...


So basically it's an ongoing battle!! I will persist with treating the house then definitely get the vet to treat her in future as she usually behaves better at the vets - no where to run off! I wouldn't say my house is infested as I don't get bit or anything and it's only me and her but i do visit family a lot and they have lots of cats and dogs so I may be the carrier :?

At this stage, what would you guys recommend in terms of me getting a new bun with her flea situation? She's just over 3 months old so I am planning to get a baby to stage out the neutering/spaying times between them but with a new baby, fleas are almost inevitable aren't they?
 
Chantelle1708 said:
So basically it's an ongoing battle!! I will persist with treating the house then definitely get the vet to treat her in future as she usually behaves better at the vets - no where to run off! I wouldn't say my house is infested as I don't get bit or anything and it's only me and her but i do visit family a lot and they have lots of cats and dogs so I may be the carrier :?

At this stage, what would you guys recommend in terms of me getting a new bun with her flea situation? She's just over 3 months old so I am planning to get a baby to stage out the neutering/spaying times between them but with a new baby, fleas are almost inevitable aren't they?
Click to expand...


Could you not bond her with your buck?

Or is he the buck that is now a doe :D:wave:
 
She's the buck that is now a doe haha!!! She's a single bun at the minute. But she is getting spayed at the end of October, so I could probably get a new baby doe or buck now and the timing should be ok.
 
Chantelle1708 said:
She's the buck that is now a doe haha!!! She's a single bun at the minute. But she is getting spayed at the end of October, so I could probably get a new baby doe or buck now and the timing should be ok.
Click to expand...


Would you consider getting a young buck, already neutered and vaccinated, from a Rescue? Then you'd have absolutely no worries about baby George and Georginas :D
 
Yes but I cannot seem to find many in Manchester or surrounding areas unless you are aware of any? I have had a look at the RSPCA however, they seem to be older rabbits.
 
Hello,
I adopted my rabbits from the RSPCA Manchester and Salford branch. My boys were 9 months old when I adopted them, but had been in rescue for a few months so would have been available as youngsters. They definitely have very young rabbits, from unwanted litters. If you follow their instagram account you'll see new arrivals coming in https://www.instagram.com/rspca_mcr_salford/
including a baby rabbit that came into their care aged just 10 days old https://www.instagram.com/p/BZLOWTmg-gT/?taken-by=rspca_mcr_salford
Their facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/RSPCAManchesterandsalford/
If you go to their photos they usually update with 'animals for adoption' regularly. I've just looked and they updated it today.
Here's their website too (but Instagram / FB page tends to be updated more often) http://www.manchesterandsalfordrspca.org.uk/rabbits.html

I guess it depends how young you want to look for, but I found 9 months to be the perfect age for me and my buns - they were both already neutered so I didn't have the worry that you go through when they have the op. By this age you have a better indication of any developing health issues too.

I hope you find the right rabbit for you and your bun :)
 
Sarahbun said:
Hello,
I adopted my rabbits from the RSPCA Manchester and Salford branch. My boys were 9 months old when I adopted them, but had been in rescue for a few months so would have been available as youngsters. They definitely have very young rabbits, from unwanted litters. If you follow their instagram account you'll see new arrivals coming in https://www.instagram.com/rspca_mcr_salford/
including a baby rabbit that came into their care aged just 10 days old https://www.instagram.com/p/BZLOWTmg-gT/?taken-by=rspca_mcr_salford
Their facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/RSPCAManchesterandsalford/
If you go to their photos they usually update with 'animals for adoption' regularly. I've just looked and they updated it today.
Here's their website too (but Instagram / FB page tends to be updated more often) http://www.manchesterandsalfordrspca.org.uk/rabbits.html

I guess it depends how young you want to look for, but I found 9 months to be the perfect age for me and my buns - they were both already neutered so I didn't have the worry that you go through when they have the op. By this age you have a better indication of any developing health issues too.

I hope you find the right rabbit for you and your bun :)
Click to expand...


Thank you Sarah :)
 
Where about in Manchester are you? Have you tried bleakholt animal sanctuary they tend to have many rabbits in of various ages you may fall in love with, you could also fry tamside rabbit and rodent rescue and rabbit rescue north west x
 
Chantelle1708 said:
So basically it's an ongoing battle!! I will persist with treating the house then definitely get the vet to treat her in future as she usually behaves better at the vets - no where to run off! I wouldn't say my house is infested as I don't get bit or anything and it's only me and her but i do visit family a lot and they have lots of cats and dogs so I may be the carrier :?

At this stage, what would you guys recommend in terms of me getting a new bun with her flea situation? She's just over 3 months old so I am planning to get a baby to stage out the neutering/spaying times between them but with a new baby, fleas are almost inevitable aren't they?
Click to expand...

It would be wise not to introduce another rabbit until you have eradicated the flea problem. Rabbits do not normally get fleas - maybe she had them when you got her?.
 
Thank you to all for the suggestions. I think I'll wait until she has been spayed next month before introducing another rabbit so she can settle back in to the home-life she's used to after the op, she's been fine on her own so another month or so won't do her any harm. I've had a look at all the links and I think I will end up getting her a friend from a rescue, there's some lovely ones available for adoption and then take her to pick her new friend - if she allows it, shes a spoilt brat already!

Also I will now wait 2 weeks and take her to vets to be flea properly and I am also going to arrange for someone professionally to de-flea my house just in case to be on safe side, least that way there's no half-jobs and no more fleas tormenting me or my poor bunny!!!
 
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