Mite spray - effective?

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cea2001

Post   » Sat Jan 05, 2002 8:38 pm


Has anyone had any luck treating mites with a topical spray? My flatmate recently successfully treated her mice for mites with a spray called "Animal Science Mite and Mange Spray for Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, Rats and Mice". This is manufactured in Australia and the bottle states

"is formulated to safely control lice (Order Mallophaga) and Sarcoptic Mange Mite (Sorcotes Scabiei) on rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and mice."

Active ingredients are
0.20g/L Pyrethrins
0.36g/L Piperonyl butoxide
0.6g/L Bicycloheptene dicarboximide

The bottle also states that cage and bedding should be sprayed to get rid of mite eggs.

I was wondering if this would be an effective treatment for mites in cavies - has anyone ever used it? As mites live under the skin, would a topical treatment actually affect them?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Jan 05, 2002 11:20 pm


A topical treatment with ivermectin will work great. Pyrethrins aren´t worth a red cent as far as getting rid of mange mites. I don´t know how they can claim it is effective. Ivermectin is systemic and will truly get rid of the mites. A spray or shampoo, even if it could kill the ones on the surface (they do move around occasionally) would not erradicate them and your pigs would still suffer. If your pigs have mange mites I would use ivermectin.

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Teresa

Post   » Sun Jan 06, 2002 2:25 am


Yes, I recently got into an email debate (sort of) with a person in the UK with a new website claiming that she has an anti-mite powder in her cupboard that takes care of mites.

Turns out it´s a Johnson´s brand of a pyrethrin-based powder.

I guess if you call being called ignorant a debate . . .

cea2001

Post   » Sun Jan 06, 2002 2:37 am


thanks for that - that´s more or less what I thought. I´m getting ivermectin from the feedstore tomorrow to dose all my pigs as Teddy definitely has mites. Thanks Lynx, for giving such a wealth of information on your medical pages - very useful!

Hedra

Post   » Sun Jan 06, 2002 3:13 pm


Does anyone know if mites can be transferred from guinea pigs to hamsters? I am currently treating my pigs for mites (with ivermectin) and I´m worried about my hamster having them too since her cage sits on top of theirs.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Jan 06, 2002 3:24 pm


I think it depends on what mite it is. Supposedly they are species specific but some mites can live for a while (but not reproduce successfully) on other species.

For what it´s worth, Harkness and Wagner mention mites and hamsters. Demodex mites, I think. They don´t mention treatment with ivermectin. For the time being, I guess I would hope you won´t have any problem and perhaps consider treating your guinea pigs every 6 months or so with ivermectin (while watching for any problems with the hamster or with your guinea pigs).

Hedra

Post   » Sun Jan 06, 2002 3:31 pm


Thanks Lynx. My hamster does look like she´s scratching but she could just be grooming herself, it´s hard to tell. Her fur looks good (no red/ bald spots) so maybe she´s ok. I think I´ll find a new spot to keep her cage though just in case. My poor piggies, I don´t want them getting mites AGAIN. They got it pretty bad this time.

Alibabble

Post   » Sun Jan 06, 2002 6:07 pm


According to the Merck Veterinary Manual hamsters commonly get Demodex Criceti and D aurati . These are more common when the hamster is over 18 months of age, and the condition is characterized by dermatitis and alopecia over the back and rump. Treatment involves acaricides that are used on dogs, or a 4% solution of propylene glycol.

They are also susceptible to Notoedres species mites, and these cause dermatitis of the ears, face, feet, and tail. These can be treated with a 200 ug/kg dose of ivermectin.

I love this book, it practically makes me weak in the knees:)

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Jan 06, 2002 8:05 pm


Hey, great! Mine mentioned the first two types but didn´t say anything about being able to use ivermectin on them. If you did, that would take care of any mange mites.

Hedra

Post   » Mon Jan 07, 2002 3:17 pm


Hey Thanks!

I´m going to write down that title, sounds like a pretty handy book to have around.

I´ll give hammie a thorough check over and if I notice any skin problems I´ll figure out her weight and how to dilute the ivermectin to that dose (as I have tons of it). I thought she would be too tiny for it. If I can remeber correctly the mites you listed are different from the cavy mites so I´m hoping she´s fine.

Plain proplyene glycol? I thought that was just used to dilute.

Anyhow thanks a lot for the info. Hammie will be very happy.

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