Preventing mites- not using Revolution?

[attemptedquad]

Hi, I have 4 bunnies. Last year, I had a horrible ear mite reaction in one of my boys- he’s white and I’m guessing is allergic because he very suddenly had huge scabs in his ears and was in extreme distress clawing in his ears within 24 hours. He got Revolution at the vet, but needed several followup appointments because the infection that resulted was hard to treat. In all of this, my other 3 bunnies that were living right by each other never showed any signs but were treated as well as a preventative.

It was a VERY expensive experience and resulted in a lot of time spent stressing and cleaning as well. I even got paranoid he would get head tilt from the infection lasting so long. I want to start giving a preventative treatment, but I can not afford monthly Revolution for 4 bunnies. I have been watching a lot of Saskia from the LA Guinea Pig Rescue and have seen that she preventatively treats guinea pigs with an Ivermectin solution that is sold over the counter. She just puts it over their ears, but I’m wonder what the best options are.

I want to start trying to buy local hay instead of using Oxbow because my quality hasn’t been good lately and potentially start given my 2 giant boys some outside time and really want to put them on a preventative before doing this.

[DanaNM]

So, you may not need to do a preventative for mites unless it’s a recurring problem. I’m not as familiar with ivermectin usage but I know Revolution is a derivative of it.

One tip for making Revolution more cost effective is to ask your vet if they can sell you the vials for dogs and give you the appropriate dosing instructions. Basically you can use a syringe to draw up the right amount from the dog vials and then apply it the same way. I had my vet show me this because I was in the same boat (4 bunnies are expensive to medicate!). My vet was very amenable to it so it’s worth asking yours!

It saves a significant amount to do it this way, because the packages are priced similarly no matter what size the pet is, even though the dog vials contain a lot more product!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[attemptedquad]

Oh thank you I hadn’t considered this!

[LBJ10]

I mean… the Revolution isn’t going to hurt anything. But it may not be necessary unless there is a source from which the bunnies can continuously be reinfested.

Dana made a good point. It’s a lot cheaper to buy the larger vials and dose them out accordingly.

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