External parasites -- what is safe to use?

[greychins]

Ok, so one of my friends runs a rat rescue, and has some pet chins as well. Well, apparently some rats of hers got infested with tropical rat mites. Her chin started pulling out his fur (like, pulling, as opposed to chewing) in an area on his body, and when she looked at it, she says the same tropical rat mites are on this chin. She contacted me asking what meds are safe for use in chinchillas to treat the mites.

But... as this would be the first I've heard of chins getting external parasites, I have no idea.

How should she go about treating this?

 

[aznmexaggie]

A pyrethrin or permethrin-based treatment are some of the safest for mammals. The same treatments safe for other small rodents would be appropriate for a chinchilla... What is your friend using for treating the rats and have the mites been positively IDed by a professional or is it just speculation?

 

[symphle]

The mite species needs to be IDed! There are three different types of rat mites: Blood sucking, burrowing and fur mites. The later of the three are fairly harmless unless the animals immune system is heavily compromised. Blood sucking are deadly by nature and have been known to infect a wide range of rodents, humans too. They hang around on feed, bedding and near the infected animal. Easily transmittable. Burrowing mites/ear mange mites leave crusty lesions, can only be seen under a microscope but I highly doubt these are the culprit. A chins fur is probably too dense for them.

Most rats are treated with Revolution for kittens or Ivermectin for mites. I personally do not know if either treatments are safe for chinchillas. I know the dosing for rats but not chinchillas.

If your friend has mites she needs to freeze the remainder of her bedding, throw out any feed and hay that may be contaminated, QT her animals and sanitize any room they have been in.

 

[aznmexaggie]

I should expand on my previous post: although there are many treatments safe for rodents, the vet should be the one to determine the dosage if it is off-label. I wasn't thinking of spot-on treatments, although I know pet rat owners often use those. I have used permethrin or pyrethrin based formulas for treating mites on lab rodents at my job. However, I would not know the dosage for a chin. I also recall reading an article in which a pyrethrin dust was used for treating a herd of chinchillas who had been infested with a species of fur mite due to vermin entering the barn...

 

[Stackie]

The veterinarian I work for has contacted the manufacturer of Revolution in the past and they told us that it would be safe to use extra label for chinchillas among other pocket pets. Obviously, she would need a prescription and dose from a veterinarian.

 

[greychins]

The mites were positively ID'd by her vet when she took in the rats for diagnosis, the chin was brought in as well. I know she uses Revolution for the rats, and she said her vet believed it would be ok for a chin as well, but she contacted me saying she wanted to hear it from people that specialize in chins, versus her vet which is more a regular vet that knows a ton about rats.

Thanks Stacie and everyone, I will pass along the info. Good to know the vets are on the same page.