question about mites and ivermectin

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KarasKavies
For the love of my girls!

Post   » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:48 am


My 3 pigs all had mites to a varying degree in December. Penny had them the worst. She had fur loss, flaking skin and went wild when I touced her sides. The other 2 were much better, but not perfect.

1. I treated the 2 lesser cases with 3 treatments of Ivermectin (orally) spaced about 10 days apart. I gave them about 2 units of the Ivermectin.

2. I treated Penny with 5 treatments of Ivermectin (orally) spaced about 10 days apart. Also about 2 units.

3. After 3 treatments Penny looked SO much better, I felt I could stop with the other 2 who had lesser cases.

4. Penny had her last dose 5 weeks ago and the other 2 had their last doses about 8 weeks ago.

5. Tonight, I noticed that Lilly (one of the lesser cases) was acting crazy when I was petting her and she has some scabs on her rump and small tufts of fur can be easily pulled out.

6. I rechecked Penny and she is still looking good but seems more sensitive to her fur being "fussed" with than she did a few weeks ago.

My question... do I treat all 3 again?? If so, how many treatments do I do? I did go ahead and give them all one treatment of 3 units orally tonight. Poor piggies! I can tell they are just not themselves. Also, do any of you give the Ivermectin once a month or so for prvention? I hope I didn´t lose anyone here. It does get confusing!!

Also, does Advantage work for any of this? Can you use Advantage and oral Ivermectin at the same time?

Thank you SO MUCH!!!

Kara, Penny, Lilly and Tubbit

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Feb 26, 2002 6:07 am


What do you mean by "two units"? How much do they weigh?

There is always the possibility that some eggs fell off or the bad case you had was so severe that it somehow reinfected the other two (that´s why I asked about dosing).

If they got the correct dose and the area was adequately cleaned and there was no way they were reintroduced, you would think this would take care of them.

I would recheck my doses and just start over again -- and give at least 3 doses. Are there any other animals in your home that have access to them? Mites are supposedly species specific but I wondered anyway.

Advantage will not treat mange mites. I don´t know whether it is safe to use both of them at the same time. I would be tempted to use topical ivermectin instead.
Last edited by Lynx on Tue Feb 26, 2002 6:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
KarasKavies
For the love of my girls!

Post   » Tue Feb 26, 2002 11:52 am


Two units is the about the same as .02cc The vet had given me some small syringes that measure in units. The entire syringe is 30 units or 3/10cc. It just makes it easier to measure that small dose!

The piggies all weigh about 1120g.

No other pets in the house. No chance of reintroduction by another animal. I did scrub the cage, but I probably could have scrubbed it several times.

I probably should have done the 5 doses on all of them. I just didn´t want to give them any more than they needed.

Thank you for your help. I think I will dose them all 5 times.

Kara

Paulatidey

Post   » Tue Feb 26, 2002 12:29 pm


I had a similar problem that reaccured with one of my males, check the hay isn´t infested or any of the bedding. The vet i used, used ivomec injectable , you can also use it straight onto the skin like advantage. Advantage will do nothing, i have tried a very small dosage (for their weight). I also washed him with Hexocil shampoo which cleared it up (I have to say if your gonna bathe them then keep hold of them tightly as they dont like it. dry them off with a hairdryer so they dont catch a cold) Because of his problem re-curring i used to bath him say every month to 2 months. The reason why they could have re-infected is that one of the lesser cases may have still had the odd one still alive on them and therefore have re-produced and spread! they are horrible to get rid of too.
Good luck

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Feb 26, 2002 1:56 pm


The hay and bedding should not have any mange mites -- they don´t live on hay or in shavings. The mouth parts are adapted to animals. I would be sure your hay and bedding is not stored anywhere there are mice or rats though.

KarasKavies, were you using Ivomec injectable? If so, 0.02cc would have been about the dose -- slightly low, though. 0.02cc undiluted Ivomec injectable would treat a 1 kilo animal. Yours are a bit larger.

User avatar
KarasKavies
For the love of my girls!

Post   » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:07 pm


Thank you Lynx. Yes, it is the injectable. I am just so afraid to give them too much! I probably don´t give enough and then I wind up re treating and giving them even more! These piggies! I worry about them as much as I do my own kids.

I am going to treat them all 5 times. Should I bump it up to .03??

Kara

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:16 pm


You could also try it topically at 0.05cc/kg. That would mean you would give 0.056cc for the 1.12 kilo pig. I would put it on the skin behind the ears. If you are using a needled syringe, it ends up looking like 5 or six tiny droplets. In the kind of syringe you normally use orally, it might look like about a drop per ear. Try to get it on the skin and kind of push the hair over and rub it in a bit. You´re not supposed to get it on your own skin -- I try to just rub the fur and avoid the ivermectin.

User avatar
KarasKavies
For the love of my girls!

Post   » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:57 pm


Do you think it is more effective used topically? The pigs sure would like it better!! I am assuming I would wait until their next dose to do it topically. I plan to dose them every 10 days.

Kara

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Feb 26, 2002 3:02 pm


You can do it 7 to 10 days. One of the primary benefits of doing it topically is it may treat some of the other types of bugs more effectively, like lice.

User avatar
KarasKavies
For the love of my girls!

Post   » Tue Feb 26, 2002 4:52 pm


Do you think it is equally effective when used topically?

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Feb 26, 2002 5:39 pm


According to a study in Harkness and Wagner´s book on the Biology and Medicine of Rabbits and Rodents, all methods are effective on mange mites. I just think topical is easiest.

User avatar
KarasKavies
For the love of my girls!

Post   » Tue Feb 26, 2002 5:50 pm


Sounds good to me! They HATE the taste. Although, I have to admit, they sure are cute making all of thie "yuck" faces! It´s so cute to see those little pink tongues. Thanks Lynx for all your help.

Kara

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