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mites and medicated shampoo

22 11:38:12

Question
my house bunny has mites I called my vet and he sent some yellow ,oily med.to use on lesions once a wk. for 3 wks we are on the 2nd wk. and he was in such misery with his hair all oily we gave him a bath and he seemed to enjoy it amd it was his first but my fear is that my vet is our horse vet and I don't know how well he knows rabbits (although he did neuter him and he did fine,but he gave him Amoxillin on 2 different ocassions then I read on the pc to naver give that to rabbits,I bought some medicated Sulfadene shampoo but since it said don't use it on cats I need to know if it would hurt Bugsy?his ears look real clean inside and I used diluted peroxide in them but he claws his nweck at the base of his ears 'til it looks like hamburger can you advise me please Thanks

Answer
Hi Pat,

I noticed that you asked more questions via the feedback form, and sometimes I don't check that!  :(  If you have questions for me, please send them to the AllExperts site, or directly to me at dana@miami.edu so I won't miss you!

Revolution is available only from the vet, since it's also a heartworm medication that can kill a dog with an active infection.  The manufacturers don't want anyone killing their dog!  I would use that instead of ivermectin, if possible, unless you have injectible solution.  But even that is not as effective as Revolution.

If your bunny hasn't had any amoxycillin for more than a week, he's  likely in the clear and his gut flora are fine.  But be sure never to let that vet diagnose or treat your buddy again.  I wouldn't trust him to make a correct decision with a rabbit!

If you do see any signs of runny stool, and the amoxy was given recently, then you'll need to get Questran (cholestyramine resin) from the pharmacy (you'll need a prescription) and administer it as per the directions in this article:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

It's not a bad idea to read that article anyway, since it is probably something your vet doesn't know about--and you should, so you can be Bugsy's advocate.

Runny stool can be a sign of many different chronic health problems, and you might want to famliarize yourself with the following:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/poop.html

If your "feral" bunnies are out eating oats and alfalfa with the horses, that's okay as long as they eat lots of grass, too.  If they're not doing that, then you must cut back on the pellets (tough love!) so they get adequate fresh fiber to keep their molars in good shape, and also don't overload on alfalfa and become obese.

The main problem with alfalfa is its high caloric content (high protein and calcium, neither of which are great for rabbits), and also that it *can* contain fungi that manufacture mycotoxins.  You're probably familiar with this from your horse stuff, but if you're not, you might want to switch your horses to timothy, too.  I've heard that alfalfa isn't really a good hay to use as a staple for many reasons--even for horses.

If your free range bunnies look lean and healthy, they probably are not overloading on the oats and hay, and they're doing just fine.  

Hope that helps!

Dana