Ivermectin usage with rabbits?

Question

I just wanted to post part question and part warning. I had a rabbit a little over a year old and we noticed his ears were bothering him. So we looked in his ears and realized something was in his ears, we suspected mites, but knowing rabbits and how quickly you need to diagnose them correctly decided to take him to the vet. Vet also diagnosed mites. He used a liquid ivermection and put the proper dosage in each ear. Needless to say that night he suffered severe seizures, banging all over the cage for a period of ten minutes before dying. This happened twelve hours after the initial treatment. After doing a little reasearch I read that just like certain dogs have sensitivity to Ivermectin so do rabbits. In particular Dutch rabbits and rabbits with white fur. My question is was he correct in putting the Ivermectin directly in the rabbits ears, and was the Ivermectin supposed to be diluted? For anyone thinking of using Ivermection on their rabbit please use extreme caution.

Answer 1

Same thing happened with my rabbit.  We gave him the med and he had a allergic reaction.  He lived!  But we still don't know what happened.  Rabbits are so tricky. Like we treated our rabbit that the judge at State Fair said had vent disease three days later when we thought she was  fine she died when I was home alone.   So Sorry for your loss.  :-(((((

Answer 2

Ivermectin is not the recommended treatment for ear mites in rabbits. The amount that was put in your rabbit's ears is surely the reson he expired. Ivermectin is a nerve agent, that is how it kills the pests. Your rabbit was basically poisoned . That is why it is very important to find a rabbit savy vet when taking a rabbit to a vet.

Ivermectin usage in rabbits is very small amounts. 1/2CC to 10 pounds of rabbit, given orally.

Course of treatment for ear mites is to use oil, any type but I use mineral oil. Put oil in the rabbits ears and rub it in. Do this daily for 2 weeks. This kills the mites. It is that simple to treat ear mites. No chemicals are needed.

I am sorry about your rabbit. I recommend that anyone that owns a rabbit or rabbits educate yourself on illnesses and diseases of the rabbit. the treat your rabbit yourself. Very few vets know how to treat them or even care to learn. They are not the money makers that cats and dogs are for vets.

Please- rabbit owners learn about rabbits and don't depend on a vet to keep your pet healthy.

Answer 3

First, I'm really sorry to hear about losing your pet.  That's awful when you try to take care of your animal properly and you lose them to an allergic reaction.

I've never use ivermectin on a rabbit - I've used the injectable cattle version on our goats and a sheep drench on our flock because it's been a very bad year for internal parasites, but boy is that potent stuff.  

Rabbits in particular are very sensitve to chemicals and don't react well to many types of medication.  I've never had to use this on any of our rabbits, so I can't even begin to think of the proper administration.  Is your vet a rabbit and small animal vet, or did you see someone who is primarily a cat and dog vet?

Sounds like your rabbit suffered anaphalactic shock, which is like a severe allergic reaction.  Any animal can have this type of reaction to vaccinations or other medications, and the only way to counter is is with an injection of adrenalin (kind of like an epi-pen).  I usually keep a dosage handy in case one of the new lambs or kids reacts poorly to their CDT shots.

There are other homeopathic remedies for treatment of mites and other parasites in rabbits (I believe there are a couple of types of oils that can be applied to the ear for mite treatment).  I would start by contacting your vet and letting them know what happened.  They might be able to offer some insight into what went wrong.