Rabbit and fleas

[bunsrule]

 Hello, I need help with rabbits and fleas I’m going to give background information as well.

I got my first rabbit last december she was a christmas gift from my husband, I asked and I recieved her name is Precious and we bougth her from petland discount and she has really bonded well with us.  Where not sure how old she was when we first got her b/c they didnt know, (i’m assuming 3months b/c she has gotten bigger)  they told us she was a male, I ask to see the genitals I told them that it looked like a female genital they assured me she was a male, I got her anyway cuz she was supper friendly, came home googled rabbits genital and guess what I was right. We got her spayed about 2 months ago by a rabbit savy vet at the AMC. I think she is a mini rex but was told by the woman who I adopted my second rabbit from that shes a Palomino, to me they look almost identical she’s a lynx so im still confused.

About a week ago we adopted a second rabbit, we decided that she should have a friend of her own kind, we contacted petco and they gave us a rabbit savy person to contact to organize a rabbit speed dating. The new rabbit we adopted is a dutch mix male so far I call him The Dutch Man, we were told he is about 1-2 years old. His story was that he was found and fostered then adopted by a guy who gave it to his girlfriend as a gift, they couldnt keep him anymore bc they were moving to student housing, I beleive that they recently gave him up,they attended the speed dating to say good to the bunny, while they were there they also mentioned that they had a cat.

I have started bonding them, my precious grooms him and he grooms her some but he persistently ask her to groom him, I think he will be the dominant one, they dont fight at all sometimes they chase but I stop it before it escalates, I started of in the bathtub which is the neutral area and they did so well I decide to try the kitchen which is Precious territory and they are getting on real well, Its so cute watching them together lol, I dont trust them completely yet I’m going to monitor them during their play time for a few more weeks and see how it goes. I keep them in a cage side by side and i switch them from each cage every night. Thats the good news, the bad news is this adoptive rabbit has fleas (yuckkkkk), and I think they started spreading, I feel so srry for him, I been doing research on how to get rid of them seems like i’m going to have to go through war sigh..I’m going to contact the lady that I adopted him from because that is just unacceptable they should have the rabbits checked out. I def sure it has spread to my precious. Maybe the rabbit got the fleas from the cat idk, Do you have any adivce on the fleas?

I have done research and well it seems I’m going to have to go to war with these fleas, but I dont want to hurt my rabbits in the process I’m reading that Bayer’s advance it good for rabbits, I really need Help b.c I refuse to live with fleas and I refuse to let my babies suffer.  Has anyone else had to deal with fleas? 

[jerseygirl]

The topical flea treatments Revolution and Advantage are safe. Frontline is NOT safe. It is Bayer Advantage you are looking to use? Be careful not to confuse Advantage with Advantix. From memory Advantix has something in it that is not rabbit safe.

This is the House Rabbit Societys advice on flea treatment: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/groom.html#Fleas

[bunsrule]

Thank you for the website it is very informative seems Revolution might be the safest way to go….Do you by any chance have any advice on how to get them out of my house? I read that treating the rabbits is mute if I dont also treat my home, Any recommendation on what products I should use in the rabbits living area? as well as through out my home that wont be toxic or harmful to them? I read that you have to deal with fleas as quickly as possible or else they become a huge infestation in your home b/c they reproduce so rapidly, just thinking about it is making me itch

[bunsrule]

someone plzzz help me b/c I honestly feel like just burning down my whole house, I HATE BUGS…

[Monkeybun]

Vacuum thoroughly, use a flea powder if needed, and empty the vacuum immediately after. If you use powder, sprinkle it on the carpet, wait at least 30 minutes, then vacuum. Wash sheets and any clothes that are out, pillow cases etc, those little buggers can get everywhere. Any time I have even thought I saw a flea I vacuumed the whole place at least twice, emptying the vacuum each time, just to make sure.

Keep bun away from the rooms you are vacuuming for awhile after, until you are positive you got all the powder up.

Another thing you could try instead of the powder is a flea collar in the vacuum bag. Drop one in, vacuum, dispose bag. Kills the fleas. Either way, you may want to repeat the process after a few days to make sure.

[bunsrule]

lol i’m going to use both, i want to be veryyyyyyyyyy thorough.. is it safe to disinfect the rabbit cages/litterbox/toys with 1 part bleach 1 part water? I usually use vinegar but I want something stronger. Do I need to go to the vet to get Advantage or Revolution? 

[Monkeybun]

You’ll want to call a vet to see about dosages for sure, not sure if you have to get the stuff from them, I have yet to need to

Bleach is fine, just make sure to rinse very thoroughly after.

[Beka27]

Yes, you will get the flea meds and dosages thru the vet. Advantage and Revolution are both safe. Frontline is not… Frontline = F = FAIL

I’m not sure how much disinfecting the cages will help since they would have to be rinsed completely to be bunny-safe. If they’re plastic, the fleas aren’t going to be hiding in there. They prefer softer materials, carpet, bedding. I would just try and do a daily full house vacuum for a couple weeks while the buns are getting treated. Are there any other furry animals in the house? You mentioned a cat. If so, all the animals will have to be treated.

You might want to contact the woman you adopted from to let her know so she can treat any of her pets if necessary, but please refrain from starting “a war” over this. Fleas happen, especially in the spring/summer months, and it has little to do with your conditions, more to do with the surrounding area. You can even bring them into the house on your clothes, so try not to blame her.

[bunsrule]

lol I’m not going to start a “war” with the lady i’m starting a “war” with the FLEAS, I still feel as tho if I am adopting a rabbit, I would think they would have it checked it out before releasing it to infect other rabbits and my home. No I dont have any other pets, the previous owners had a cat…I’m calling the vet to see what she says. I have also contacted the woman who I adopted the rabbit from.

[Beka27]

Oh, I see! Okay! Well, that’s better. Is this person an official “rescue” or was she a private party looking to rehome her rabbit?

[bunsrule]

It was an official rescue, It was done at a animal shelter, she seems to be known in the “rabbit community” so I’m really shocked this happened.

[Stickerbunny]

Fleas are sometimes hard to keep away if there are a lot of animals in the area – if it was done in a shelter, maybe one of the shelter pets had come in flea infested and they just weren’t successful getting rid of them all and didn’t know? When I was little, our dogs were all on advantage and they STILL got fleas because our neighbor didn’t treat their yard or animals, even though our yard had hundreds of dollars of flea prevention in it every year + all our dogs kept on flea prevention. Needless to say, I was very annoyed, especially since my dog was allergic to fleas … we went through every night and picked them off her manually to help keep her allergic reaction down (sores all over her skin from the flea feces) and had to get special shampoos for her – took a lot of work to get rid of the fleas!

Advantage usually works really fast, since rabbits are so small you’ll need a syringe with exact dose for them from the vet. The citrus flea stuff they sell in pet stores seemed to work really well for us with the dogs for treating the house. Make sure you treat your bed and pillows and curtains as well, the sprays are good for that. You should get rid of all the fleas soon, the advantage makes them unable to eat once they feed on an animal treated with it, you just want to make sure you get any eggs out of the areas. Fleas on the animals should die within 48 hours of treatment.

[BinkyBunny]

You’ve gotten good advice regarding the treatment. I just wanted to say one thing though about the rescues and the fleas. I ditto Stickerbunny because fleas can be difficult to control when in an area with lots of animals.

Unless a bunny is terribly infested, it can take time (especially if a bunny has darker fur) to notice a few fleas. At an animal shelter,, animals may come in with them, and get treated, but any fleas that jumped off prior to any kind of treatment can hang out in floor corner, hang a ride on people etc, and make there way to animals. And it can happen very quickly. Summer time is the worst!

I’m sure though the woman would want to know though about the fleas…I know I would so that I could make sure that the rest of the animals I have are treated and the place is also treated. Fleas really can happen so fast!

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