Tick Prevention

[HitchcockDT]

As the weather warms up and the snow finally melts away, I’d like to give my rabbits some time outdoors. Ticks can be a big worry here in NH, especially with all the tick borne illnesses and syndromes. I was wondering what people did to prevent ticks. I know there’s flea and tick medications for cats and dogs, but are there ones safe for rabbits? Should I bother putting something like that on my rabbits?

[Roberta]

Revolution should do it. Doesn’t specifically state tics but it does stop fleas, mites and other parasites incl some intestinal ones. I personally have found it also good towards preventing flystrike on one of cats by killing the larvae on contact. If you are going to allow your buns outdoors I would reapply the treatment every 4 weeks. It is a topical product that you apply to the back of the head or neck. Active ingredient is selamectin. DO NOT USE FRONTLINE. IT IS TOXIC TO RABBITS AND SOMETIMES CATS. Advantage cat is also safe for bunnies but I find it a bit trickier to work out the dosage. You can use the Puppy and Kitten Revolution and a single ampule proveds 1 months protection to a 2.5 -3 kg rabbit. If you are confudent using a dosing syringe (no needle) you can buy a kit of the Revolution for dogs or cats and measure it out. For two average sized rabbits the kit will provide almost a years worth of protection.

The dog product is generally a 120 ml solution so the dosage is halved as you can see on the chart. 

[LBJ10]

I would think that Revolution would make ticks reconsider their decision to crawl onto your bunnies.

I don’t know about Lyme Disease in rabbits, but I guess you’re in a high risk area. I’m in a low risk area and we typically just see brown dog ticks, which are less likely to carry it. There are other things rabbits can get from ticks too, like Tularemia.

[Roberta]

Had another look and it does treat ticks. There are apparently some instances where it has not been effective on dogs against deer ticks, which can take 5 days to die. But otherwise, yes, it kills ticks.

[HitchcockDT]

Thanks for the info! I’m definitely going to look into Revolution for my 3.

[Bam]

Rabbits can get lyme disease.

Revolution and ticks: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9567

When I had my bunnies outside I used permethrin. (For Revolution you need a prescription here.) We have LOTS of ticks (Southern Sweden) and about 1/3 carry Lyme according to contemporary research.

As Roberta says, FIPRONIL is DEADLY toxic to rabbits (Frontline, Effipro etc). Do not use.

[Author]

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