lice

Question
My rabbit was diagnosed by the vet on sat. with lice. She was given an initial treatment of a saline type liquid. I am to give her another in two weeks. My question is how do i treat my apartment so that after the second treatment, they will not return?

Answer
Hi Julia,

Do you know exactly what drug was used?  I suspect ivermectin.  That should be used three times total with a separation of two weeks between treatments.  This will coincide with the life cycle of the mite.  The initial treatment kills the adults, the second will take care of any that have hatched since the first treatment and the final is a mop up type treatment.  Many vets will only treat for two rounds but we have found that three is sometimes necessary....ask your vet about his/her thoughts on the matter (I am not a vet but do deal with these situations quite often).  Do you know how your rabbit contracted mites?  Mites can come into your apartment from other apartments and other animals.  Some mites, like bird mites, are species specific.  Mites can also enter your home on your shoes.  While we have had rabbits, guinea pigs and birds come in with mites (and lots of wildlife)...we have never treated the entire house.  We treat the affected animal immediately.  Those little bugs have a fairly short life span....so if you remove the food (which is the host rabbit) by treating the rabbit, it should be a self resolving event without having to fumigate your entire apartment. And I would make an effort to locate the source of the mites in case they are coming in from another apartment.

Randy