need quick advice regarding mites and treatment

[Snowy]

Hi everyone! I need your help. I got 3 new rats about a month ago. One of the girls, Addy, started showing signs of mites (scabs on her face) so Pink brought over some Revolution. All 5 of my rats were treated with .02 mL of the adult cat Revolution on January 17th. None of the other rats are showing signs of mites, but Addy still is. Her original scabs have healed, but now she has some new ones on her face, behind an ear, and on her shoulders. It's been almost 2 weeks since she was treated. As far as I know the Revolution wasn't expired or anything, I'm pretty confident that Pink would check for that

I just got home from the vet, I had to bring two of my bunnies in for appointments today. I told the vet about Addy's mites and asked what she thought. The vet is a very good vet- not very experienced with rats (I think my rats and Pink's rats are pretty much the only ones she's seen) but she is always willing to do research on care for rats. She didn't have time to look anything up since she had to go start on the surgeries for the day, but she said that Revolution can take 2-3 weeks to start working. She also said that maybe Addy has a bacterial infection. What do you guys think? Should I take her in to be looked at? I am at school the entire time the vet is open all but 1 day per week, I don't have a car so my fiance has to drive me, and the clinic is 20 minutes away. I have to go pick the bunnies up from the vet this afternoon, and it would be so perfect if we could just bring Addy along this afternoon to be looked at. I read here though that skin scrapings aren't good to do on rats, I don't want to stress her out unnecessarily, and I don't want to spend money for an exam and everything if it won't do any good since we've spent a lot of money on vet bills lately and it will only get worse from here because of chronic and expensive conditions that 2 of the bunnies have.

Thanks for any tips, I really appreciate it!

 

[jorats]

It's weird that the scabs have come back. Skin scrapings are a waste of time and money. But the vet could be right about skin infection or other infection that is causing dermal issues.
It's hard to say... When you did the Rev, did you wash everything down?

 

[Alicemcmallis]

My vet and I have found that sometimes multiple treatments of Revolution 2 weeks apart are needed for severe mite infestations.

It's also definitely possibly that she's developed a bacterial infection from scratching at the mites. It won't hurt to treat again with Revolution, clean thoroughly, and give a course of antibiotics in case a bacterial infection has developed.

That's what I'd do anyway!

 

[SQ]

If you retreat with revolution, be sure to treat everyone as if one has mites, all will have mites even if they are not showing symptoms.

 

[Snowy]

Thanks for the replies! Yes, we treated all the rats with the Revolution. I cleaned and washed the entire rat cage and changed bedding the day they were treated- about 18 hours before. Was that suitable?

 

[Snowy]

Okay, I talked to the vet and she recommended re-dosing her on Sunday and then bringing her in on Friday if she hasn't improved at all. Should I just dose her again, or do all 5 ratties need a second dose? Sunday will be 2 weeks since the last dose.

 

[jorats]

I would probably do all 5 ratties because if she still has them, they can easily get on the others too.

 

[littledevils]

When a rat has mites or lice I generally treat all of the ones I have at home or else it seems like you just keep going in circles.... spend the extra bucks now and nip the problem in the bud once and for all.

We treat all of them once... and then repeat 3 weeks after.

We also treat every new rat that we take into rescue with Revolution whether they show signs or not but since we started doing that I haven't had to treat the rats that have been at my place for a while.

 

[sprite71]

Just a thought. What about the chance to having a skin reaction to the Revolution? I have never heard of a reaction to Rev before but it is plausable. Maybe ask your Vet.

Definately wash all the items in their cages like you would for fleas and head lice. Anything that cant be machine washed put in the dryer for 20 min on high or wrap in a bag and keep in the freezer for 2 weeks to kill any mites.