Can comfortis kill rabbits?

[Notsofairmaiden]

got comfort for my cats and my brother was giving the cats their medicine, and he had a little bit left, not even enough to cover the bottom of the syringe thing we use to give it to them, so he watered it down a bunch and gave it to my rabbit who has a bit of a flea problem, WITHOUT TELLING ME. He told me as soon as he finished it and Cas (the rabbit) hasn’t been acting any differently but it’s only been about 10 minutes. Do I need to take him to the vet?

[Bam]

I looked it up, it seems that rather a large dose is required to kill a rabbit. It’s not approved for use on rabbits though. You can call your vet and ask. They might just tell you to closely monitor your bun, since the dose must have been very low.
There are anti parasitic compounds that absolutely can kill a rabbit (Fipronil, frontline), so I hope you can explain that to your brother so he doesn’t do a thing like this again. He probably meant well, but medicines that one species of animal tolerate can be very toxic to another species.
We’d be very happy for updates. If your bun has a parasite-problems there are other, bunny-safe meds that can be used, Revolution is one, ivermectin another.

[tobyluv]

I am not familiar with that medication. For fleas on rabbits, you either get Revolution or Advantage (kitten formula) and you place the drops on the back of their neck where they can’t lick it. You do not give them oral medication, and you NEVER use Frontline on rabbits.

I don’t know where you are located and if your vet is still open, but you could try calling him/her and say what happened and see if they think it’s dangerous, and what should be done. Otherwise, monitor your rabbit carefully to make sure he is eating, pooping and acting normally. If not, and if your vet is closed, you may need to get him to an emergency vet.

[Roberta]

I would recommend washing the area to get rid of as much as possible before it spreads across the skin.

[Kathy]

     I know this post is old but I wanted to clarify that Comfortis  would be the best non toxic flea control for rabbits! The only problem is it originally was made for dogs and then cats. There are no bad side effects other then that one of the ingredients is beef which obviously rabbits don’t eat! It is a shame they don’t make one with some of the barley treats just for rabbits because from my research it is the safest for dogs cats and other then the beef would be for rabbits too!

[jerseygirl]

I don’t know a lot about the product but don’t recall seeing the active ingredient (Spinosad) as being safe for rabbits. I’d rather stick with Revolution or Advantage topical treatments which have been approved for use on rabbits.

The side effects for cats and dogs is enough to steer me away from using comfortis for a rabbit.

FOR CATS: The most common adverse reaction recorded in clinical trials was vomiting. Other adverse reactions were: lethargy, decreased appetite, weight loss, and diarrhea. Use with caution with concomitant extra-label use of ivermectin.
FOR DOGS: The most common adverse reaction reported is vomiting. Other adverse reactions reported in decreasing order of frequency are: depression/lethargy, decreased appetite, incoordination, diarrhea, itching, trembling, excessive salivation and seizures. http://www.comfortis.com

http://www.elanco.us/labels/Companion-Animals/Comfortis.pdf

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