Ivermectin

Question
I have two female rats, and recently I found lots of scabs around Yumi's back and face. No scabs on the other one, Miyo, but they both are losing lots of hair. When I took them to the vet, he told me they had lice. I bought Ivermectin in the form of horse wormer paste, but I don't know how I should give it to them. I've researched a lot, but all I've found is that I should give them each a dose the size of half of a grain of rice once a week for 3-4 weeks. What I really want to know is how I should I should I give it to them. The paste is in an unopened plastic syringe and I don't know if I should squeeze it all out or leave it in there? Should I stir it? Do I need to refrigerate it once I open it? Does It need to be sealed? Does it last for 4 weeks, or do I need to buy a new syringe each week? People say I need to clean the cage, with what? Do I need to clean it every time I dose them? Their cage is on the floor, so do I need to clean the floor?
Please help me, I really want to do it right so they don't die. They both are so sweet.
Thanks in advance.

Answer
Hi

I am sorry to tell you this, you just wasted your money. This is in no way an effective nor a safe method to get rid of your rats parasites.

My suggestion is to return it and go back to the vet and buy a vial of revolution (selemectin)   It is a cousin to ivermectin and all you need to do is give them one tiny drop on the back of their neck between the shoulder blades and your done. It will cost almost the same of the horseworming paste if you buy it this way.  You should know their weight or at least a ballpark figure of what they weigh.  The vet should sell you just a single vial of kitten strength revolution that comes in a mauve package for kittens under 5lbs.  If the dont have that, you can buy a vial from the blue package for kittens over 5lbs.  They are the same strength you just get
pre-measured to apply  in one dose to a kitten.

This solution will continue kill off lice or mites for a full month. You can toss away all wooden or cardboard items in the cage, change the litter and wash any hammocks etc...and thats it.

It is so strange how some people may tell you that its not safe to use revolution on the rats yet there is a recipe out there in the rat world on how to give your rat something meant for a horse of all things, and mislead rat owners into thinking it will work, but it takes several doses as per the instructions and never seems to be effective enough.