还有一个药，瑞士诺华的Program，下面的资料说能用。
New Products Make Flea Prevention, Control Easy
By Jeffrey R. Jenkins, DVM http://www.drexotic.com
Here we are in the depth of flea season and once again we are seeing all too many rabbits presented to the hospital with heavy flea loads. This is especially unfortunate because we have available today a better arsenal of effective flea products than ever before. Therefore I am going to take this opportunity to review my favorites and tell you why and when I think you should use them. Let's look at two situations: You currently don't have fleas, or you do have them. The degree of a flea infestation is not as important as just do you have them or not.
Flea prevention
If you do not currently have fleas there is a very good chance that you will (if you live here in Southern California). Fleas are limited in the distance they will or can travel on their own power; however, they have a fondness for hitching a ride on any passer by. I remember finding a flea on my pant leg one day at the mall. I had not been any where near an animal and had no fleas at home when I found it. Somehow it had found its way to the mall and then found its way to me. Had I not noticed, it would have found its way home to my pets.
The likelihood of finding new fleas on your pet is greater if they live in or frequent the out of doors. It is greatest if you have a pet that leaves the environment that you control. In other words, if your cat, dog or bunny is able to visit the next door neighbor's yard, goes for walks around the block or visits Dog Beach, you are certain to have another flea infestation. If your pet never leaves the living room it is less likely you will bring home fleas; however, living in San Diego's subtropical climate, sooner or later one will find its way into your home.
For you, the product called PROGRAM is perfect. Program is the brand name for a drug named lufenuron, made by the Ciba Animal Health, Ciba-Geigy Corporation. Program is a once a-month oral medication to treat and prevent flea infestation. Program has been available by veterinary prescription in the United States since spring 1995 and in other countries for several years. Program is licensed by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use on dogs and cats. Although no formal study using Program in rabbits has been done (nor are any planned by the manufacturer), it has proven to be safe and effective in our in house studies when used on several hundred rabbits over the past three-plus years.
When a female flea eats a blood meal from an animal treated with Program, the lufenuron is deposited into her eggs. Lufenuron prevents these eggs from hatching and the further development of the flea. This is accomplished by the interruption of chitin production. Chitin is the material that makes up the exo-[outer]skeleton of the flea. Mammals (rabbits) do not make chitin or have an exo-skeleton and therefore are not affected by lufenuron.
Program does not affect the adult flea. Preexisting flea populations may continue to develop and emerge after treatment with Program has begun. Studies on dogs and cats have shown that emergence of fleas may continue for 30-60 days and noticeable control from PROGRAM alone may not be observed for several weeks after the treatment is begun. This lag phase is the result of the survival of immature fleas hatched from eggs laid before the Program was administered. Animals with a significant flea infestation will require the concurrent use of insecticidal products (see below).
An injectable form of Program was licensed for use in cats this year. The remarkable difference in the injectable product is that it only needs to be administered once every six months to be effective. Complications at the injection site have made this product unavailable for dogs. We are currently evaluating whether this product will be safe for use in rabbits.
The obvious advantage of using Program is that all is required to prevent, or even cure minor flea infestations, is to give your friend a medication once a month. We recommend the use of Program to all our rabbit-owning clients as flea prevention.
Flea control and eradication
If you currently have a flea problem, steps must be taken to reduce the numbers or fleas on the pet as well as in the environment. Using Program alone will not accomplish this as quickly as I would like. I therefore recommend the use of ADVANTAGE on the pet as well as Flea Busters powder in the indoors environment.
Advantage is the brand name of the topical agent imidacloprid made by Bayer Animal Health and available only by veterinary prescription. It, too, is licensed by the FDA only for use on dogs and cats. As with Program, thousands of doses of Advantage have been used safely on rabbits. Imidacloprid is a new compound that binds to nerve receptor sites and blocks nerve transmissions. It is different and will not cross react with other common insecticides such as organophosphate and carbamates.
Advantage is applied to the skin of the rabbit at the base of the neck. From there it is distributed to the skin and hair coat by body movements. A single treatment kills 98% to 100% of the fleas on the pet within 24 hours and continues to kill fleas for at least 30 days.
In severe infestations treatment of the environment is also recommended. To a great extent, this is for the comfort of the pet owner. We have noticed that once the animal is treated with Advantage, the fleas often turn their attention to the owner.
Indoors we recommend the boric acid product made by Flea Busters. This product is very safe for both rabbit and owner and has proven to be much more effective than sprays or forgers. Outdoors we recommend organophosphate insecticides: Malathion or Diazinon.
As you can see, flea prevention and treatment has become much more simple than in days past. The new long lasting flea products make taking care of this unpleasant chore as easy as remembering when to give the next dose of medicine.
[ 本帖最后由 Sarra 于 2009-9-24 11:05 编辑 ] |
