Rat treatment?

Question

My rat is lactating, but she has mites and it turns out she needs a parasite spot on thing by Xeno. Has anybody used the spot on when the babies are 5 and 6 days old? I want to treat her, but I'm worried it will affect the babies if it goes through her milk and gets to them. She isn't desperately in need yet, but if she becomes desperate she may need the treament. The company said they have never done any officail studies on the use of Spot On on pregnant and lactating females, and they said they probably have used it on them and they have never encountered a problem that they know of.

Is it safe to use it when the babies are 1 weeks and over?

Answer 1

I'd go with Stormsle, I use olive oil, and it can't do any harm, if the mites come back in a couple of weeks then the babies will be weaned and you can then use the spot on, I used spot on for three weeks on trot and still had lice, so I oiled them then bathed them 2 days later with a small animal insectcidal shampoo, done the trick, and lice not been back now for over 3 months.......

Answer 2

Why not try the olive oil treatment instead, something that we know is safe:

"Bill's famous olive oyl treatment: rub about two tablespoons of olive oil GENTLY into the rat's fur and skin (skin may be sore, so be GENTLE!) and don't worry that the rat looks horrible. the rat may l**k, his friends may l**k, but the mites or lice, if there are any, will be smothered. wash it off 24 hours later with baby shampoo, or just leave it. repeat 2 more times, 7-10 days apart, to smother any hatchlings"

Many people have used it with success.  You need to clean everything to the best of your ability to make sure that the rat is not reinfested, and freeze all bedding that you add to the cage at least 2 days before use.  Keep the rat warm because the oil will interfere with being able to keep temperature, but that shouldn't be a problem in the summer.  In the very least this should keep the rat comfortable until the babies are weaned.

Answer 3

you should def ask your vet first and foremost.

my guess (only a guess!) would be wait a bit until the babies are older, at least a week or two.  Ive had rats with mites and try to remedy the problem asap but they had never been pregnant or nursing.  The problem is she probably is spreading them to the babies.  Maybe change the bedding, give her a good bath until its safe to apply the medication (of which ive never heard of)  the babies might need it as well.

when my babies had mites I used a horse parasite control called Ivermectin that was recomended by my vet (and coincidently I had for my horses).    if you look it up online it should give you a decent amount of information.

add-  yes try what the man said below, Ive never heard of it but it sounds harmless so the worst you can do is try and not succeed.   If that doesn't work the Ivermectin is a great product, you can order it online quite cheap  (or they may have it at a tack store if you live in an area with many horse farms)

Answer 4

You should take her to the vet.

Answer 5

rat babies can be weaned from their mother at around 21 days old, if possible i would wait until then so that they are not consuming the mothers milk just incase. there are harmful chemicals in these types of treatments and little weak babies may not be able to cope with it. mites are a minor discomfort, unless she is scratching until there are large open wounds i would wait

Answer 6

Buy some Advantage or Revolution (smallest size) and put one drop on the back of her neck right against the skin, then another in two weeks.  Both of those products are very safe and will not harm the babies.  You'll want to treat the babies once they are 6 weeks old, just to make sure that they didn't pick up any for when they go to their new homes.  If you ask your vet for a 1cc syringe when you go to buy the stuff it will make dosing a lot easier for the babies (they need 0.05cc's, the mother will get about 0.1cc's).

Good luck with your rats!