Fleas!!!

[K F]

Hello again!  I am wondering… If you suspect your bun has fleas, how do you treat the situation?  Any advice you have would greatly help.  Thanks soooo much.

P.S.  For those of you who followed the adventures of "Hercules", just want to say that he is still with us and made a completely recovery!!!

[Sarita]

You can safely use Revolution on rabbits – it’s good for fleas and mites. I know Frontline is an absolute NO – it will kill your rabbit. I do not know about Advantage though so I know I wouldn’t use that. You have to get Revolution through your vet – I’ve used this many times without problems. You might have your vet look at your rabbit first anyway to see if they see fleas since the Revolution is available only through them.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Advantage is OK, but do not use it on bunnies less than 6 months old or rabbits over 6 years old, however there are certain undiagnosed conditions that can make Advantage and unsafe choice so is is best to take your rabbit to the vet.

As for your house, (depending on the severity of the problem) wash everything in very hot soapy water, the carpet can be treated with the Flea Busters boric acid product or even salt.  If it is a hard surface, use Murphy’s Oil Soap which acts as a repellent.

How many fleas have you found and where are they? What made you think that they are present if you haven’t seen any?

[skunklionshow]

I never had fleas until I moved to Philly, now it happens almost every season.  I use revolution on the bunnies and advantage on the cats.  You don’t need to do flea bombs if you keep up on the topical flea tx on a monthly basis.  Also, after treating your pets replace all your vacuum bags.  A lot of people don’t realize that this is a great breeding ground for fleas.  I’ve also read that if you add a few drops of apple cider vinegar to pet’s water, it acts as a natural flea deterrent.

[MooBunnay]

Juli got fleas when I first had her. We put a teeny dab of Advantage on her back between her shoulder blades, and then I put her into a carrier and put her in my room while I used a flea spray on the carpet and then let it dry then vacuumed to make sure there were no fleas left in the room. This took care of the problem all together for me at least. I have heard that fleas don’t really breed well on bunnies like they do on dogs and cats – so generally you don’t see AS many on a bunny.

[MooBunnay]

OH and BTW – so glad to see Hercules is doing well!

[Floppy]

I am not sure about brands but I read somewhere that Flea medication for Kittens can be safely used on rabbits.

[Scarlet_Rose]

I would be interested to see where you read that. Most medicines even though they are safe for cats and kittens are not safe for a rabbit.  For instance, a pyrethrin based flea baths/dip while safe for a kitten is not for a rabbit. There is a good article on what to do and what not to do with a flea problem here from HRN:

http://www.rabbitresource.org/lib_flea.html 

[Gravehearted]

yes, I’ve also heard not to use flea dips and sprays on rabbits. The only two things I’d recommend are revolution or advantage.

[Vinnie D.]

There is also a spray on flea control for rabbits. I’ve been using this on Nel with no problems. (aside from the fact that she hates getting wet). For those who remember, the bald spot had nothing to do with the spray. I later found she’d pulled out some fur and gathered up some hay to construct a nest of sorts. I guess her nesting instict kicked in. It’s since grown back.

[Molotov]

When I adopted one of my bunnies he had been in a cat room and was very stinky and had a few fleas. I used baby shampoo, let it soak in for awhile the fleas drowned and haven’t seen any since. Fortunately my bun accepted the bath and didnt flip out. Or you could use the NON-ultra non-bleach just regular old cheap blue dawn dish detergent. Bunnies groom so much and are so small I’d be afraid to use anything that contained anything more than soap. Adult fleas are easy to kill just the eggs and pupae in your carpets and house you need the big guns.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Vinnie, I am glad the bald spot is gone and it wasn’t fleas.  It does sound like nesting may have set in or she could have been irritated there by something that prompted it as well.

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