# Ear mites/ivermectin



## dunroven

I seem to have a recurring problem with ear mites. No matter how I clean, no matter how much oil I use in the ears, the dumb things just keep coming back. I even clean the ears in another area, and hate to be gross, but my chickens eat what I clean from the rabbits ears.

Anyway, moving right along, I read on a few websites to give a shot of ivermectin to the rabbits 3 times, once every 2 weeks, and it will rid them of the mites.

I was wondering if anyone had tried this and what your results were?


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## barnyardfun

I do not raise rabbits so this info may not be any good BUT I use Vet RX for earmites in my dogs and goats. Just warm it a little and put a few drops in. It seems to give instant relief and does get rid of them. You should be able to find Vet RX at any pet or farm store.

Hope this helps.


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## Somerhill

I keep Ivermec paste for horses on hand for the occasional case of wool mites. I've purchased 2 rabbits in the past year that developed ear mites, and both times, I took a Q-tip and wiped a bit of the Ivermec paste into the ear. Both times, it cleared up the mites, and they did not re-occur.

JMHO
Lisa at Somerhill
www.somerhillfarm.com


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## DamnearaFarm

Don't know about bunnies, but I dab a bit of ivermectin based dewormer in the cats' ears for mites.


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## THETOOLMAN

I thought it was POISON to animals BUT horses. I do not recommend doing this,,, BUT,,, I have cured systemic mange in dogs with the horse stuff just don't use very much & very seldome


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## Terry W

You can use the ivermectin paste as a lotion directly on the skin--or you can inject, sub-Q, the proper dosage. Now-- look at it this way-- putting the ivermection directly on the mite, reduces the amount of drug you are getting into and on the animal-- and a tube of horse wormer is a LOT less expensive than a bottle of the injectable.
Also-- I found that once you stick a bun with a needle, the second try-- they tense up-- the skin itself seems to draw itself tighter!!! And you do NOT want to risk injecting Ivermectin into the bloodstream or into a muscle-- it REALLY stings, too!

the accepted dosages for skin mites of any type is generally twice that of the dosage for intestinal worms, times 3 doses. ( when given orally or sub-Q)


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## RiverPines

We use ivermectin for all our critters, dogs, cats, goats rabbits.
It doesn't matter if you give it orally or on the skin, the drug still is absorbed by the body and it does kill everything thats sucks the animals blood....lice, fleas, ear mites, etc.
It also kills many of the intestinal parasites.

The only thing with rabbits is dose. I just give them a dab of paste, a tiny dab.
I never used it in the ears because the body will absorb the drug and rubbing paste all over could result in to much of the drug. Personally I would use some mineral oil to knock down the population in the ears and then a dab of invermectin orally for my follow up.


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## dunroven

I already have a bottle of ivermectin for my goats for worming, so when I saw that I thought, hmmmm.

Okay, this is the pour on type. How much orally would you use? Right now I have 89 rabbits, (did have 150). We are getting rid of everything except just enough to feed us as we are just not selling much anymore, so we're not going to mess with it. Anyway, won't be needing to treat all 89 of these, but how much ivermectin oral would you give per rabbit? I only saw the subcutaneous dose and I really don't want to do injections if I can keep from it. I would prefer doing the oral, but I do want to make sure it is working.

I just hate these ear mites. I did a friend a favor and bought rabbits. I even had them in quarantine for a couple of weeks and sure enough, my friend did me a favor. In his behalf, they say it takes months sometimes for ear mites to show up but it can certainly wreck a herd. When we get down to our basic ones, they will be treated on a monthly basis with mineral oil, after I am certain with the ivermectin that I have wiped them out.


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## westbrook

inject about 1/10 of a cc (or less) ... pull up the skin on the back of the neck and inject there. It doesn't take long to do.

yes I have done this but not on my eating stock, only on my breeding stock. If needing to do eating stock, fill ears with oil.. any kind of oil.

If this is a recurring problem, it will continue.. and you will need to keep up the maintenance. 

I spray everything down with a mixture of water and diatomaceous earth. I use a small handful of DE to a gallon of water and a squirt of dish soap to help it stick. I have to keep it shook up to keep the DE mixed and my sprayer does at times get clogged.. but it is all worth it.

I would remove each cage and clean it with a good scrubbing of bleach along with a good dose of sunshine. If there is any hair and feces on the bottom, I use a small torch (for braising copper sold at the local hard ware store. Uses small bottles of fuel) and burn off any of the hair and with a once over all over the bottom before scrubbing and some sunshine.

Once it is dry, spray it with the DE mixture. The DE will adhere to the cage.

I would also spray the ground, walls or trees and anything used to cover the cages.

DE won't hurt the rabbits, it is only harmful to insects with their skeletons on the outside.. will kill bees!!!! but it will also kill mites and flies too.


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## dunroven

I can't remove all the cages. They are hanging cages, in sections with 5 cages per 10 foot section. I have sprayed them with bleach water and intend to do that again, as soon as our weather breaks enough to open the building up, can't do it with it all closed up for the winter.

The rabbits we are going to eat, I'm not going to treat. I'm just going to off them and send them to freezer camp, but I will treat my breeders and then will keep up maintenance on the babies. But Riverpines had said you can give it orally. I'm wondering would it still be 1/10 mL to do that?


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## DamnearaFarm

THETOOLMAN said:


> I thought it was POISON to animals BUT horses. I do not recommend doing this,,, BUT,,, I have cured systemic mange in dogs with the horse stuff just don't use very much & very seldome


My small animal vet (also a horsewoman) is the one who told me about using it for mites.


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## westbrook

sure you can give it orally... easier to inject then to grab rabbit, open its mouth and squirt!

leave rabbit in cage, pull skin, inject move on.


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## dunroven

Okay, thanks! I still think I'll go the oral route. I like that much better. Its easy to tip a rabbit upside down, put the syringe in the corner of the mouth and push the plunger and then move on. I'll give it a try and see if it takes care of the mites.

Thanks everyone!


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## Danaus29

I was wondering if it would kill fleas. Thanks for the info. Got to buy some paste this week. I've used paste before for a baaaaad case of fur mites.


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## Ltl Ole Me

Unfortunately, ear mites will not go away once and for all. It is an issue that you will have as long as you have rabbits. You say that you have the pour on Ivermectin for your goats. I'm sure that it is the same as pour on for cattle. That is what I use. If you have signs of ear mites, all you have to do is put a whole cc on the back of their necks right behind their ears where the fur is thin. Just like if you were treating a cat for fleas. You donât have to treat the area that you house your rabbits. 

Ivermectin is great, once you treat your rabbits your done for about 6 months maybe a year. You don't have to clean out the crusty stuff or anything. Within a few days you can't even tell that they had them.

Ivermectin will take care of everything; ear mites, fur mites, worms, everything!!!!


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## Terry W

NEVER, NEVER use a pour on product orally or SUB-Q. There is other stuff in it that could be fatal if metabolized incorrectly!!!


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## General Brown

dunroven said:


> I seem to have a recurring problem with ear mites. No matter how I clean, no matter how much oil I use in the ears, the dumb things just keep coming back. I even clean the ears in another area,



Im just curious if you are using straw for the nest boxes and bedding. Straw, being hollow, will harbor mites while hay will not.


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## Starwynn

I just wanted to clarify a few things, though I am late.  

The regular dosage for pour-on ivermectin is 1 cc (or mL) per 22 pounds of body weight. It should never ever be used in any method other than on the skin, aka "topically". I like to choose a place that the animal cannot groom, like the back of the neck between the ears. Ivermectin does have a wide range of safety, but I still stick within the given range. You can always go back in a few weeks and repeat. The ivermectin topical will actually have about a 2-3 day immediate effectiveness for other topical, blood-taking parasites like lice, etc. 

Incidentally, I always use generic rather than Ivomec brand because it's the same thing, less expensive. Ivermectin pour-on is the blue liquid. I use an insulin syringe to dose, and gloves because I have often gotten that stuff on me and it soaks in FAST! lol No worms for me! :blossom:


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## mekasmom

THETOOLMAN said:


> I thought it was POISON to animals BUT horses. I do not recommend doing this,,, BUT,,, I have cured systemic mange in dogs with the horse stuff just don't use very much & very seldome


Ivermectin is used in all animals, even in humans. It is a pretty safe wormer.


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## brandkelz

Here is a question:

Could you just do a regular dose say every spring on your breeders? I have a doe that gets ear mites bad about every 2-3 months. They will go away with some olive oil or baby oil drops in the ears in about 3 days and then 2-3 months later they are back. I understand that they are just one of those things you have to deal with which is why if this medicine you guys are talking about works like that, then I would rather treat in the spring and not have to deal with them anymore for 6-12 months then all summer long.


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## MaggieJ

I think if I were having a recurring problem with ear mites, I would want to know where they were coming from and tackle the problem from that angle.


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## ladysown

do be careful with ivermectin....if over dosed can cause a whole range of problems for the rabbit.


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## Lada

We have used ivermectin on heads when my kids have had lice. It is the only thing that will kill them dead, the first try, and they don't come back. Just a teaspoon or so in a handful of conditioner.

I've never tried it, but I wouldn't see why it couldn't work similarly for ear mites. And I would think that a topical application for a topical parasite would make more sense than putting something in their mouth. :shrug:


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## AugustRED

I've used the horse ivermectrin paste for getting rid of earmites - works like a charm! Pea sized dose for adults on a veggie treat or straight into the mouth. Have been warned not to use it on pregnant does though, nursing is okay (good, since mine are always pregnant and/or nursing). Treated mine about 3 mos ago & only one has had a reacurrence. I scrub, bleach, treat with vinegar, etc my cages every chance I get & they stay pretty clean but just couldn't keep my does from getting the mites - perhaps what someone said about the straw in their nest harboring the mites is right but I've never had issues with kits getting them until they're older (3-4mos). Funny thing is my Netherland Dwarf has never, ever had a problem with them & he even gets a nestbox over the winter:hrm:...


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## Honorine

Starwynn said:


> I just wanted to clarify a few things, though I am late.
> 
> The regular dosage for pour-on ivermectin is 1 cc (or mL) per 22 pounds of body weight. It should never ever be used in any method other than on the skin, aka "topically". I like to choose a place that the animal cannot groom, like the back of the neck between the ears. Ivermectin does have a wide range of safety, but I still stick within the given range. You can always go back in a few weeks and repeat. The ivermectin topical will actually have about a 2-3 day immediate effectiveness for other topical, blood-taking parasites like lice, etc.
> 
> Incidentally, I always use generic rather than Ivomec brand because it's the same thing, less expensive. Ivermectin pour-on is the blue liquid. I use an insulin syringe to dose, and gloves because I have often gotten that stuff on me and it soaks in FAST! lol No worms for me! :blossom:


Like three and a half years late, and ivermectin use has been covered many times on this forum. What does need to be mentioned is a recent situation where someone experienced ivermectin sensitivity in some of their rabbits. It appears that some breeds may have problems with it and it could cause death in those breeds. While I have always suggested ivermectin use for ear mites I will now do so with the warning that certain breeds could have problems, and even die.


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## birdman1

The pour on genaric type of ivomec for cattle works fine 1Ml from a needleless seringe 1/2 in each ear or in the fur behind the ears rubber gloves will keep the stuff out of your system the horse paste with iveomec stuck in the mouth works for dogs also in my experince good grass hay works better than straw but you have to watch out as there are many types of weeds whitch can cause trouble sutch as thorns oil works but is messy


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## Devoville

Honorine said:


> Like three and a half years late, and ivermectin use has been covered many times on this forum. What does need to be mentioned is a recent situation where someone experienced ivermectin sensitivity in some of their rabbits. It appears that some breeds may have problems with it and it could cause death in those breeds. While I have always suggested ivermectin use for ear mites I will now do so with the warning that certain breeds could have problems, and even die.


Thanks Honorine for the warning.. It was our Dutch that we lost to ivermectin sensitivity Please be careful when using.. there is a saying that says "WHITE FEET DON'T TREAT" It refers to anything that bears the Dutch type markings including vienna marked.Also, broken pattern and charlie -type markings may be included in this warning. We have had many reports of Mini Rex as well as Angora type breeds being affected as well. Cattle/herding dogs have long been known to have a sensitivity to it as well as some other breeds, with the percentage of affected members of these breeds reaching upwards of 60% affected. The sensitivity is caused by a mutant gene where if it is doubled causes acute sensitivity and death. One copy of the gene might just cause some "issues" but not death. This mutant gene allows for this drug and possibly others to cross the blood brain barrier readily and cause poisoning even in small or "correct" dosages. In dogs there is a genetic test for the gene. There has also been reported sensitivity in cattle and horses including deaths as well.


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