Mites?

[Kate]

Curious if anyone has dealt with mites in your bunny and if so, how did you treat it?  I recently bought two Mini Lops from a local feed store.  Its been about a week and one of them has a big bald patch on the nape of his neck.  I googled it and am concerned its Mites.  Anyone know how to tell?  Its going to be $200+ to take him to the vet and I really don’t want to:/

[Paige]

I have had fleas and my bun also had a large bald spot on the back of his neck.
I used revolution and I think it works for mites as well and I would use the one for kittens.
My bun weighs 2.3 kg (5lbs? ) and he got 0.1 ml as one dose, I got two doses to fully rid the fleas.
My vet told me that if he had mites I would’ve had to isolate him and it would’ve been harder to rid, that’s all the professional details I have about mites lol
Revolution is about $40 here on the west coast of the us
Treating is quite harmless if you apply the right amount, some people treat yearly just as a precaution
But revolution only treats two types of mites so if your situation is horrid then waiting a little bit and treating them yourself can’t hurt too much, but obviously we don’t want your buns to suffer ?

[jerseygirl]

Revolution. : ) 

Do check with the feed store if they have treated the rabbits with anything. So they are not overdosed if receiving additional treatment. 

Do the rabbits mount each other or were they in with other rabbits at the store? When they mount, rabbit will often grip the neck fur in their teeth and sometimes it gets pulled out. It’s possible it’s from one rabbit overgrooming the other also.

Why is taking him to the vet so expensive? $200 is exorbitant.

[Paige]

Oops I meant not horrid

[Kate]

How did you get revolution?  They sell it on 1800Petmeds but you need a doctors authorization.  I looked all over the internet last night and I can’t buy it anywhere.  I called Petsmart and they dont have it and the guy said its something only Vets can prescribe.  How do you get yours over the counter?

[Kate]

Well I called Vet, she said office visits is $85, then they may do a skin scraping which is another $150 or so, then the meds which could be $50-100 .. just ridiculous.  I live in SF East Bay, so not surprised…. everything here is stupid expensive.  

Also called feed store, he said the other babies left behind do not have any issues.  And also, I have a brother and a sister – both in same cage.  Don’t you think if it were mites, the other bunny would have them too?  Just wondering why one bunny has what looks like mites and the other doesnt have anything?  

[tobyluv]

I think that Revolution can only be obtained from a vet or from a website that gets a vet’s authorization. Since these rabbits came from a feed store, you might want to have them both checked out anyway, to make sure that they are in good health. I see that there are a lot of rabbit savvy vets in your area, http://rabbit.org/rabbit-center/local-rabbit-veterinarians/. Do you think that any of them might have more reasonable prices?

Since you have a male and female, they should be separated before they are 12 weeks old, to prevent litters. You may want to go ahead and separate them since the feed store might not have known their exact age, or they could have told you the wrong age.

Edited to add – I just saw in another thread of yours, that your bunnies are probably around 11 weeks old, since you’ve had them for a week and were told they were 10 weeks old.  You should go ahead and house them separately now and make sure that they can’t reach each other through cage bars.  Rabbits have been known to mate through a cage.  Also, don’t let them out to play together.  It only takes a few seconds for a pregnancy to get started.  You could look away and not even realize what had happened.  After their spay and neuter surgeries and recuperation, they can be rebonded. Since vet costs are high there, and spay and neuter is a high cost anyway, you should check into a low cost spay/neuter clinic. Those were mentioned on the above link.

[LBJ10]

It depends on the country. In the US, it’s prescription only.

If you’re established with a vet, you should be able to buy it without an appointment. I used to pick up flea medications for my dog all the time, never needed an appointment. I just had to be a customer there. I can understand that the vet would want to make a proper diagnosis. I also understand that money is a concern. If possible, you can save money by simply asking the front desk if you can purchase some Revolution. You don’t need to tell them that it’s for suspected mites. But perhaps that ship has sailed since you already talked to them. Anyway, if you purchase the Revolution and apply it according to the recommended dosage (for rabbits) then you can see if it helps. If it does, then great! If it doesn’t, then no harm done but then, yes, you would want to do a skin scraping to see what the problem is.

I just wanted to mention as well that you should never, ever use anything with fipronil (Frontline and some other brands) on rabbits. It is toxic to rabbits and we’ve seen too many tragedies here on the forum. So I just want to make sure you know that.

Also, to answer your other question, if it is mites then both of your bunnies likely have them. This isn’t unusual. They probably have both had them since shortly after birth. They can lie “dormant” for a very long time and only become a problem when the immune system is compromised (often due to stress).

[Kate]

Lie dormant?  Oh geez… they’ve been in our house for almost 2 weeks, does that mean we have to worry about our house being infested with mites now?  UGH!!!

[foreverfluffle]

The week after I brought my mini lop home last year, she also had ear mites. She would shake her head, scratch her ears with her feet and had a bald patch. My sister also has a rabbit, and he didn’t show any symptoms but we treated him as well as her. We were able to buy Revolution over the counter, like LBJ10, so you should be able to without an expensive appointment
Good luck! <3

[LBJ10]

They can’t survive very long without a host. A week or two maybe? I don’t think they would wander very far if they were to, say, land on the floor. They are mites, not fleas, so they are typically spread through direct contact (they can’t jump). I wouldn’t be too worried. While the buns are being treated, just be sure to clean their room, cage/pen, etc. really well.

[Author]

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