Ivermectin for Wild Squirrels

[Fenchurch]

Hi!

There is a large group of wild squirrels near me that I often feed. Several of their trees were cut down several months ago, and they seem to have developed mange as a result (I think they all just crowded together). Their hair loss is REALLY severe, and one recently died (I'm pretty sure because of a bad snowstorm/the fur loss).

I got some Ivermectin 1.87% paste from a horse supply site (a syringe that is for a large horse) but I wasn't sure how to go about dosing them. They will take food from me, so I think I can get it applied to nuts and get all/most of them without repeating a dose, but I wanted to make sure I didn't give too much. I've seen the guidance on pin-head size doses, but I wasn't sure if the Ivermectin needed to be diluted first? Any help would be much appreciated! Hoping to slow the hair loss before the next storm.

Thanks!

[island rehabber]

Hi from the Bronx!
This happens so often with city squirrels; they are crowded into the few nesting sites in the winter and disease runs rampant. I remember one year visiting Stuyvesant Town and Peter Stuyvesant Village in Manhattan; all the squirrels were horribly mangy and thin.
I am the worst person in the world to give you ivermectin advice so I won't. I am sure there will be someone who can help, though, so hang in there. It's wonderful of you to want to help these poor guys.

[astra]

RE: diluting.

Once a while back I got a dosing for diluted paste. It didn't work for me. The paste just wouldn't get dissolved in water to form a uniform dilution, it kept being clumpy and all - there was no way I could dose such an "uneven" solution. Maybe, it depends on the kind of paste (there are different types of paste, some are kind of jelly-like fruit flavored, others - most like toothpaste white and solid etc.), but it didn't work for me.
BUt the people who shared the diluting dosing were successful at diluting it. And they said it had worked for them.

I don't have the diluting dosing anymore (lost it after my computer crashed), but if anyone here knows - hopefully, they will share and you can try that.

So I gave up the diluting and ended up using the "uncooked" rice grain way.

[lovesmice]

There are dilution directions at one of the rat sites I use. I am hesitant to post it because I do not know if it would differ for squirrels. I tried to PM the link to astra to see if it was what she was talking about, but for whatever reason I can no longer PM her. (She is probably sick of me sending her links every time I see a Canadian squirrel needs rescue.) Anyway, here is the link, but please verify with the squirrel pros all prescribing information as I only know about what to do for the smaller rodents:

http://ratguide.com/meds/anti-infectives/ivermectin.php

[Fenchurch]

Thank you everyone! I gave them their first dose, using the pecan groove technique. I don't think they all got a dose, because I didn't want to risk any double doses, but hopefully the ones that didn't get it this time will get doses 2 and 3.

I also just posted some pics of the little guys to make sure it's mange and not something else going around. Hoping I can keep them fed through the cold weather--thanks again!!

[Fenchurch]

Hi again!

Thanks for all of the great ivermectin advice--just finished round 3 last week! The group as a whole are doing MUCH better, and the ones that were totally bald are starting to gain some downy undercoat growth.

I had a quick question on dosing. There are some that seem to need a second round (Also, some were definitely missed in the first round since it was such a large population and we didn't want to risk double doses). How long should I wait before starting them again? I think I had seen advice to wait 2 weeks, but wanted to be sure.

Thanks again for all of the awesome advice!

[TubeDriver]

You can give up to 3 doses, each dose spaced 7-10 days apart.

The first dose kills all mature mites but ivermectin is not effective against mite eggs.

The second dose (7-10 days later) kills the mites that hatched from the unaffected eggs.

The 3rd dose (another 7-10 later) kills any remaining mites that might have been missed and also insure that all the mites in their nest will die.

Remember that Ivermectin is extremly neurotoxic and that too much will kill a squirrel. Always err on the too little side when dosing (amount needed to fill this "O").

You could give three doses spaced apart and most of the squirrel group will get at least 2 doses which is usually enough. Some might get 3 doses which is fine too. If any get a single dose, they may need to be retreated in the future but hopefully this initial dosing plan will be enough to get rid of the mange.

Hi again!

Thanks for all of the great ivermectin advice--just finished round 3 last week! The group as a whole are doing MUCH better, and the ones that were totally bald are starting to gain some downy undercoat growth.

I had a quick question on dosing. There are some that seem to need a second round (Also, some were definitely missed in the first round since it was such a large population and we didn't want to risk double doses). How long should I wait before starting them again? I think I had seen advice to wait 2 weeks, but wanted to be sure.

Thanks again for all of the awesome advice!

[Fenchurch]

Thank you! I actually just finished the 3 doses last week (they were all 10 days apart). There are just some that aren't recovering (I think maybe they missed one or more doses and possibly got re-infected) so just wondering if I should wait a few weeks before starting again/retargeting them. Or if Ivermectin is cumulatively neurotoxic if we should wait even longer?

Hoping the better weather might help too (though they are pretty overpopulated--they are city dwellers and several of their trees were cut down which I think made the whole thing worse!)

Thank you!!

[TubeDriver]

If you can target the ones that are still not recovering, I would give them an additional dose (7-10 days after your last dosing). If not, because there are too many around, then I would probably wait a couple weeks and see what is going on then. Some may respond and recover faster than others.

Thank you! I actually just finished the 3 doses last week (they were all 10 days apart). There are just some that aren't recovering (I think maybe they missed one or more doses and possibly got re-infected) so just wondering if I should wait a few weeks before starting again/retargeting them. Or if Ivermectin is cumulatively neurotoxic if we should wait even longer?

Hoping the better weather might help too (though they are pretty overpopulated--they are city dwellers and several of their trees were cut down which I think made the whole thing worse!)

Thank you!!

[Bushkins]

So how is the treatment helping Fenchurch ???? Has the lvermetcin helped ? Thanks ! I'm very interested in giving my Wild friends some mange help !! Is there another product I can give squirrels that itch consistently ? Like a Flea pill for kittens ? The warmer weather seems to be populating the bug world and is bad for our wild friends !! Any advice is greatly appreciated !!

[Nancy in New York]

RE: diluting.

Once a while back I got a dosing for diluted paste. It didn't work for me. The paste just wouldn't get dissolved in water to form a uniform dilution, it kept being clumpy and all - there was no way I could dose such an "uneven" solution. Maybe, it depends on the kind of paste (there are different types of paste, some are kind of jelly-like fruit flavored, others - most like toothpaste white and solid etc.), but it didn't work for me.
BUt the people who shared the diluting dosing were successful at diluting it. And they said it had worked for them.

I don't have the diluting dosing anymore (lost it after my computer crashed), but if anyone here knows - hopefully, they will share and you can try that.

So I gave up the diluting and ended up using the "uncooked" rice grain way.

astra had made such a great post about dosing a wild squirrel cautiously with ivermectin, I made it a sticky in the emergency
section.
However, when I did that, it erased her post from this thread, so I just wanted to link it here as well.
Thank you astra!

http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/s...Wild-Squirrels

[Fenchurch]

So how is the treatment helping Fenchurch ???? Has the lvermetcin helped ? Thanks ! I'm very interested in giving my Wild friends some mange help !! Is there another product I can give squirrels that itch consistently ? Like a Flea pill for kittens ? The warmer weather seems to be populating the bug world and is bad for our wild friends !! Any advice is greatly appreciated !!

They're doing great! I was super cautious with the dose and followed the advice of the great rehabbers here to a T--everyone has their fur back, and are enjoying the spring weather. If you think it's mange, I'd post a pic, and follow the advice of the super knowledgable folks here. Good luck!

[mysquirrels]

Years ago I was able to purchase a little plastic container of a gel for squirrel manage. You put it on peanuts and put it by the
infected squirrel to be sure he/she eats it. It worked wonderfully. However, I can't find it anymore on line. Does anyone know where to buy it?
It came in a little 1" X 1" round container. Thank you

[Mel1959]

My squirrels, this is a very old thread. There are a couple of things that treat mange. I’m not sure what you had that was a gel. Ivermectin comes in a paste form. It is very potent and has to be administered carefully. The other safer product is Revolution for cats. It requires a Rx in the US or purchased from a vet, but it can be purchased online from Australia at Joes Pet Meds. Both of these can be administered orally. One drop on a nut for the Revolution. I’m not sure exactly how much of the Ivermectin is given, I’ve never used it.

[CritterMom]

Years ago I was able to purchase a little plastic container of a gel for squirrel manage. You put it on peanuts and put it by the
infected squirrel to be sure he/she eats it. It worked wonderfully. However, I can't find it anymore on line. Does anyone know where to buy it?
It came in a little 1" X 1" round container. Thank you

It was very likely a different presentation for horse wormer. Equine ivermectin is normally a gel, flavored in things like apple and peppermint to appeal to horses, and sold in a syringe-like container to make it easier to shoot into a horse's mouth. It can be purchased at any business that caters to horses like feed and tack shops, and Tractor Supply as well as about a million horse related web sites. Just make sure you buy 1.87% ivermectin paste/gel - there are a couple brands that add another anti-parasitic to it and you don't want those. On this page: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/se...paste%201%2087 Item 3 and the last item on the page have a second anti-parasitic - all the rest are what you are looking for. There is no benefit to buying a more expensive brand - they are all the same. I would try to avoid the peppermint flavor only because rodents don't like the smell of mint.

To dose: Get yourself a grain of dry rice. It is going to be used for size comparison and they are smaller than you think so don't guess. A single dose is the size of that rice grain. I usually squirt a teeny bit of the gel onto a plate and use a toothpick to scrape a bit away to form my "rice grain" with. When I am happy with the size, the easiest thing is to place it in the folds n the top of a quarter of a pecan. You want to use a small piece of nut so they eat the whole thing including the paste.

I usually do 3 doses if possible, 7-10 days apart. The ivermectin only kills the adult mites, not the eggs, so giving a dose, waiting 7-10 days, then a second dose, and a 3rd 7-10 after that allows eggs to hatch, get killed by the 2nd dose, and any stragglers that hatch after that get wiped out by the third.

One of these "syringes" is enough to last you about 100 years!