Found fleas!

[katieh]

I found some fleas on the cats tonight so I am guessing Pepper has some too. I have heard that Advantage is okay for rabbits? Is that right? Does anyone have any other suggestions of what to do?

[Lightchick]

My vet had me use a 1/2 dose of Revolution for kittens/puppies. You’re supposed to repeat once a month… I don’t know for how long.

A friend of mine fostered a shelter rabbit with severe fleas, and she got an orange spray-on-the-carpets product from Whole Foods that was safe for her buns. Apparently, Whole Foods carries several similar varieties, and one is slimey and has residue, and the other doesn’t. I’m waiting for her to let me know the name of the one she liked best. I’ll post when I hear!

[Cassi&Charlie]

I heard advantage was deadly to rabbits but I’m in Australia so we might have different ingrediants. All I know is my vet told me never to use it cause my bunnies would die. I don’t have any suggestions for other products though (being in OZ n all)

[JK]

Advantage for kittens is absolutely safe and fine to use.  Don’t know why in Australia it would be different.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Ok, I’m almost sure one of the big flea meds is not OK to use…Knowltons have you used advantage?? I can’t remember which one wasn’t OK to use…

[JK]

http://www.allearssac.org/fleas.html - here’s a good article on flea treatment for rabbits.

[kimberleyanddarren]

yeah on the same note, do you guys treat against fleas anyway? i do my dogs every year but i havent done the bunnies just wondering if i should just in case? or is it only when they actually have fleas?

[JK]

My cat has never had fleas but I treat her anyway since she goes outside once in awhile.  She’s basically an indoor cat.  I have never treated Edson since he does not have fleas nor does the cat.

Edited: I treat the cat monthly with Advantage.

[hooty22]

I can’t imagine any fleas wanting to live in Felony’s mass of fur… Couldn’t be easy to navigate…

[Ang]

light chick did you find out which spray was not slimy?

[katieh]

Thanks for the article Knowltons. We usually don’t get fleas and we have all hardwood floors so I don’t know where these came from but I want to get rid of them!

[KatnipCrzy]

Some forms of Advantage may have heartworm, tick or intestinal parasite treatment in them also- like Advantix, Advantage Multi, etc.  And products can vary by country as to what has been legally accepted and labeled- in the US there are strict standards with the EPA and USDA depending on the product.  I don’t know what drug manufacturers have to do to get product OK to sell in Canada or Australia.

But I do know that the canine Advantage that has heartworm prevention in it has been released in other countries much longer than in the US.  And there are counterfit flea products sold that are packaged like the more expensive Frontline and Advantage- that is why it is important to buy from a reliable source.  The imitation products do not have the main ingredient that is in Frontline/Advantage and may kill or make very ill both cats and rabbits.

[KatnipCrzy]

I treat my dogs as they go outside- but I do not treat my cats or bunny.  I certainly would if they had fleas- but having the dogs on good heartworm prevention (Sentinel for heartworm AND fleas) and then Frontline for topical protection has made it unnecessary to treat the 5 cats and 1 rabbit.  I can’t imagine having to pay for 6 more doses of flea treatment per month just as a preventative..OUCH.  Cats and bunny do not go outdoors- so I would rather not expose them to unnecessary “chemicals”.  But I hate even the thought of fleas in my house- and would treat all animals for at least 3 months if I did have a problems with fleas.  vacuuming and emptying the canister or bag to get rid of the flea eggs so they do not rehatch in the house is a good idea- and to wash any bedding that the pet uses.

[Lightchick]

Just heard back from my friend about the orange stuff she sprayed in her carpets when one of her foster buns had fleas… She says it’s called “Orange Guard” and she got it at Whole Foods, which is an organic grocery store. I haven’t seen any sign of fleas since I’ve been back, but I think I’ll go pick some up, just in case.

[BinkyBunny]

Be careful with things that you spray on the rug – talk to your vet about this.

Regarding Advantage – I have used it and it worked well, but don’t follow the directions on the box. Make sure your vet gives you the dosage. Once you know which Advantage to buy, and how much you should give per your vet, you should be able to follow that from that point on unless the weight of your bunny changes.

[Lightchick]

I’ll ask my vet about the spray when I call about neuter questions…but honestly, I’m more confident in the reference from this friend of mine than I would be in my own vet! (I don’t have a vet..I have a vet office!). She’s one of the primary people at the rescue where I got Lizzy (Zooh Corner), and she’s very good friends with the vet that works with that rescue and who writes all their articles for the Zooh Corner website, so I’m pretty sure they would have discussed it…

I’ll chime back in if the vet has anything to say. Which I’m not counting on. Sigh. It’s very sad to have so little confidence in one’s vet. Maybe I should find a different one…it’s just that this office is listed on all the approved-vet lists, and is 5 minutes away, and open 7 days a week, and would be where I rushed a suddenly-sick bun to! They’re very nice, and very well equipped…they just don’t seem to want to have a stable communicative relationship with their patient’s people. It seems odd to have a “regular” vet far away, and to have no relationship with your nearby “emergency” vet…

Sorry, that was pretty off-topic. I’ll let you know what the vet says..

[Lightchick]

I’m not going to repeat my rant about my absentee vet…you can see my Neuter thread if you’d like to read it!…but the vet apparently has never heard of Orange Guard.  He recommended calling the 1-800 number on the bottle if I was concerned.  Sometimes I hate it when I’m right…just the response I expected.  Grrrrr!

I looked it up.  Website is http://www.orangeguard.com/index.html.

This is what they say, if it’s of any value to anyone:

“How does Orange Guard Kill insects?
The active ingredient d-Limonene (orange peel extract) destroys the wax coating of the insect’s respiratory system. When applied directly, the insect suffocates.

How safe is Orange Guard?
Orange Guard is a water-based insecticide. All ingredients in Orange Guard meet the G.R.A.S. (generally recognized as safe) standard set by FDA. d-Limonene is approved by the FDA as a food additive, and is found in products such as fruit cakes, cleaners, degreasers, air fresheners and pet shampoos. Orange Guard is 100% biodegradable and water-soluble. Orange Guard is listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute.”

I’m going with the theory that if my rabbit rescue thinks it’s okay, it probably is…

 

[BinkyBunny]

I couldn’t find anything about it being toxic either when I did a quick search. I’ll also ask my vet when I see her if she knows anything about it.

Did the Rabbit Rescue say you have to wait a period of time before animals could walk on the rug?

Definitely would like to know more as I know there have been a few threads on here about dealing with fleas in the house.

[Lightchick]

They didn’t say specifically…I would assume one probably wouldn’t want the buns hopping around on a damp rug, but it sounds like this product is aimed at a unique physical trait of insects that we (and the rabbits) don’t share…

I’d be interested to see what your vet says, BB. I actually haven’t seen any sign of fleas lately, so I haven’t tried the stuff. But it’d be good to know for future reference! (Like the next time I end up with a Park-Bunny! Sigh…)

[Lightchick]

Argh! 

Spoke too soon! 

After spending last night on the floor with the bunnies, went to bed, going, “huh, my foot itches.  Wait, so does my knee!”  Half-a-dozen flea bites! 

And I just caught a flea on Lizzy.  So much for that Revolution stuff working for a month.  Probably my own fault for botching the last application of it, though.

Seems like I’d killed off the previous generation, but the new one has hatched.  Please let me know whatever you find out about Orange Guard!

*trundles off to buy more vacuum cleaner bags, and Orange Guard, just in case*

[BinkyBunny]

Put flea collars in the vacuum bags. That will help kill the ones you suck up, as I have heard they can get back out of the vacuum. (though that seems very difficult – but I’m not a flea.

I have heard Advantage works better on Fleas than Revolution. Some people use Revolution when there are mites involved too. However, with both, you may have to do the whole three month treatment to nip it all. You did mention you botched it – not sure what happened, but that could just be the simple reason???

[Lightchick]

Oh, wow! THANKS, BB! I love the flea collar in vacuum bag idea! Ingenious!

Hmm…I’ll ask the vet tomorrow if they have Advantage. I’m assuming I need “kitty” variety? They told me to use Revolution. Don’t know why. Probably because it’s what they had.

I’m just at month 2/Treatment 2 with the Revolution.

I botched Robbie’s treatment because the little tubes that stuff comes in aren’t designed for a “half” application. You have to squeeze them fairly hard to get the liquid out, and the liquid is clear, and the little tube gets lost in bunny ruff, and then the rabbit squirms… So I ended up getting the whole tube on him. And then I freaked out that I was going to poison him, and tried rubbing some off. I have no idea how much ended up being on him.

Lizzy’s application (of course, she didn’t have fleas, but lived in the same apartment as him for 5 days, so I treated her anyway) went fine. But then, the entire time I was out of town, with Lizzy in the hotel, and Robbie far away in boarding, I was getting eaten alive by SOMETHING. But Lizzy never scratched and seemed unaffected. And my roommate in the hotel never got bitten. So maybe I was allergic to the hotel laundry detergent. Who knows.

Got back, and Robbie has seemed fine. Lizzy was the one with a flea. I figure, the first batch of Revolution probably killed off the living fleas, but then whatever eggs existed hatched. My BF was a sweetheart and vacuumed and laundered EVERYTHING before I got home and brought the bunnies back in the apartment, so it hasn’t been that bad.

Also, I got the Orange Guard and have been spraying in on the rugs/upholstery before I leave for work, when it has all day to evaporate without bunnies bouncing around. Of course, I leave windows open, too. It just smells slightly of citrus. There’s a little tacky residue on the carpet/upholstery, and the hardwood floors have a slight slick/tacky residue. I’ve been doing this for 3 days, and haven’t gotten any new bites, or seen any on the buns. Robbie keeps wanting to lick things, which I’m not comfortable with, so I think I’m going to stop with the Orange Guard and mop the floors and try to get the stuff off of the furniture.

Fingers crossed that they’re gone…I’ll go get a flea collar for the vacuum just to make sure! I suppose that’ll kill off any hatchlings from eggs I suck up, too!

[BinkyBunny]

Yes, my vet usually recommends the kitten dosage – and for Jack who is a big bunny can use more than Rucy who is less than half his weight.   But  of course, your vet would have to give you the correct dosage for your bunnies.

But it might be that you just need to use Revolution for another month.

[HippityHopMom]

I have not had any fleas this year, nor since I have obtained my house bun.   In the past years, we have had flea problems.   I live in North Ga. and fleas in this area are awful.   I live in the country & the squirrels and deer come into my yard and they bring fleas. 

I hope I never have to use a topical flea product on my bun.   I stopped using the topical flea products on my Cocker Spaniel as I feel they are harming our pets.    Have you noted how so many dogs have skin problems and so many health problems these days ?  The topical products  (such as Advantage) are an insecticide in which you are putting into your pets body.   My vet did confirm this to me.  Since this is a rabbit forum … I will not continue here about my research and findings about topical flea products and my dog.   But from my experiences, I will stay away from these topical flea products if at all possible….. on all my pets…. including my house bun.    If someone has a flea insfestation, it may be necessary, but I do not think I would use them on a regular basis just for prevention.   For prevention, work towards preventing fleas in your environment.    We have found if you work towards keeping your environment free of fleas, your pet will not have fleas.   It is better to treat your environment and not so much the pet if at all possible.  

This is the best way I have found to help prevent fleas. 

1.   Vacuum often. 
2.   Get rid of clutter and cardboard boxes in your closets and under beds …. and buy the plastic storage containers.
These are hiding places for fleas to breed.  Fleas love carpets, carboard boxes, cracks and crevices to breed in.

3. Keep all your pets immune system strong and healthy  (thus not using topical products – these can harm their immune system).

————————————
We have tile and hardwood floors with area rugs.   One year we did have a bad infestation and we added a small amount of a flea killing product to our mop water and we mopped all our hardwoods.   Fleas will get into cracks of hardwoods and lay eggs.  

And yes, as stated above in other postings…. fleas CAN escape vacuum cleaner bags …. so use a flea collar in your vac bag, or if you do  not have a flea collar … I would sprinkle some flea powder on the carpet and vac. it up …. thus putting flea powder in the vacuum bag.   When you take the bag out of your vacuum cleaner to throw it away, seal it tightly in a plastic bags first …. or burn it if you live somewhere you can burn the bag. 

I board pets here in my home on my bottom floor, therefore, I know all about fleas.   I am trying to do things more and more the natural way for the safety of my pets.   By taking the steps mentioned above …. we finally made it thru this flea season with NO FLEAS !    It was truely wonderful not to have to deal with fleas this year.    …. And this is why I elected to write so much here … I feel maybe all these steps may help others …. it may take some time, but evidently it does work.

Also, I noted some were spraying the orange natural spray around the room on carpet and furniture.   I used an all natural citrus spray on my Cocker Spaniel last summer and it did not prevent fleas or keep new fleas  from coming on him.    The all natural citrus spray I used only killed any fleas I saw on him at that moment …. I would spray his belly where I saw some fleas, and they died instantly.    Something in the product destroyed the flea’s hard shell and killed the flea instantly.   But, this product only worked when I SAW the fleas and sprayed the product DIRECTLY on the flea themselves.   When I sprayed this product on my Cocker to kill new fleas he may come in contact with …. it did not work this way.     So if all the citrus natural sprays work like this, you may be wasting your time by spraying the carpet and floors.    It does work great when you see the flea and spray it DIRECTLY on the flea.   You will actually see the flea die within a few seconds.  

Good luck … it is a difficult task to get rid of fleas in a safe way for yourself and your pets.    

 

 

 

[BinkyBunny]

Thanks hippityhop for sharing what your experiences are! Very helpful.

[Author]

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