Frontline on Dogs living with Rabbits

[Elrohwen]

I’m not sure if it’s better to ask this on a dog forum or BB, but BB folks are so knowledgeable and I’m sure lots of you also have dogs.

What do you use one your dogs for ticks? The only rabbit approved flea medications (Revolution, etc) don’t deal with ticks. My options seem to be the Scalibor collar (active ingredient Deltamethrin) or something like Frontline Plus (active ingredients Fipronil and Methoprene). Which one is better for being around the rabbits? He has no direct contact with them at the moment (won’t for a while) but soon he’ll be using the living room which they also use, so I’m worried about the chemicals getting on the carpet and then to the bunnies.

We put the collar on him today and I don’t like it. I’ve read lots of bad reviews of the side effects and in general I just hate having it there all the time where I will accidentally touch it (it’s velcro-ed to his collar, but still sticks out). At least with the topically applied stuff, it kind of dries and goes away in a couple days. I know Frontline is toxic to rabbits, but the information I can find seems to be if it is applied to them and they lick it. That would be a far far higher concentration than if it was applied to the dog, given a few days to dry, and then picked up in trace amounts on the carpet. I’m just not sure exactly how toxic it is.

Unfortunately, I must treat for ticks. We live in an area with the highest incidence of lyme in the country and taking him out anywhere but the front yard results in at least 5-7 ticks (found a few embedded already). 

I plan to call the bunny vet on Monday, but I’m contemplating cutting the collar off already. Any thoughts? 

[LBJ10]

I was told on BB that as long as it was dry that it would be okay. Maybe keep the dog out of the room until the spot is dry?

[Elrohwen]

LBJ, thanks for the help – that makes me feel a lot better. I could definitely keep him out the living room for a couple days (we have anther “family room” type of room that the bunnies don’t go in).

Tomorrow we’re going to try working out a way to attach the tick collar to his regular collar so we can remove both. I’d feel better if we could take it off while we’re interacting with him and just put it on while we’re sleeping or at work.The way it’s supposed to be attached means it’s not really removable at all.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I would for sure discuss it with your bunny vet first. I suspect the Frontline would be okay when dry and it’s not like your buns will come into direct contact with the treated area (grooming, etc) but better to check with an expert first.

[Elrohwen]

For now at least, I found a better solution for the collar. We cut it to the size of his regular collar, then attached it to the underside with duct tape. Now, I can remove his regular collar and the tick collar goes with it. It also keeps the collar out of the way so I’m not accidentally touching it every time I pet him. When it was just on him before, I felt like I had to wash my hands constantly. Lots of people online report irritation on the dog from the collar, but he seems ok.

I did some more research on the active ingredient in the tick collar and it does seem pretty bunny friendly. Not a lot of info, but I did find studies done on rabbits and in general it was no more of an irritant or toxin than it is to people or dogs. Frontline’s main ingredient, on the other hand, is extremely toxic to bunnies so I want to stay away from that if we can make the collar work.

I’ll report what my vet says after I talk to her. We need to take bunnies in for a check up anyway, so I might just wait to ask at my appointment now that I know the collar is pretty safe for everyone in the house.

[lzrddr]

Delamethrin is a moderately toxic permethrin product but seems to be fairly well tolerated in rabbits, and is certainly a more effective product against ticks than is Fipronil. So I would pick that collar if I had to choose. Preventic is another collar often used to prevent ticks in dogs and is probably the most effective of all thle tick collars.. However, amitraz is pretty toxic to rabbits so I would avoid that one as well, physical contact are probably needed in all these collars for them to be a danger to the rabbits.

[Elrohwen]

Thanks you, lzrddr! That’s exactly what I wanted to know.

My dog vet does have some experience with rabbits, and it looks like he was able to give me the correct recommendation, but it’s good to hear from someone with more specific rabbit knowledge. I’ll double check with my exotic vet when I take them in, but it looks like we’ll stick with the Scalibor collar. Once he’s to the point of having physical contact with the rabbits, we can easily remove the collar temporarily thanks to the collar+tape configuration we worked out so there won’t be a risk of direct contact with bunnies.

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