Nell asked about the proper dosage of Revolution for ferrets, and
about possible adverse side effects of over-dosing. I'll share my
own experience, and what I know from my past researching, about both
questions.

Revolution will kill pretty much all parasites by getting into the
ferret's bloodstream and thus into the parasite's food supply. Here
is a link to the Revolution website with info about the product for
cats, which is what we use for ferrets:

https://www.revolution4cats.com/default.aspx?sec=Product%20Overview

The main reason that I and many others use Revolution is for heartworm
prevention. Heartworm can be spread by mosquitos, so I only use
Revolution for my ferrets during mosquito season, which, here in CT, is
basically April -- September. IF you want proper heartworm prevention,
then my belief is that 18 mg of selamectin, the active ingredient in
Revolution, given once per month, is adequate for protection for a
ferret of roughly 2 lbs. or slightly more (1 kg). I do have a study
that was done for many animals, including ferrets, on selamectin, and
that is where the 18 mg per month number comes from. I can email it
to anyone who would like a copy, so just write to me privately.

The small vials of Revolution, for cats up to 5 lbs., contains 15 mg
of selemectin, which I don't feel is enough to safely guard against
heartworm, especially since my ferrets are almost always over 2 lbs.
in weight, and often the boys are upwards of 3 lbs. The larger vials
of Revolution, for cats 5-15 lbs., contain 45 mg of selamectin. SO, I
use 1/2 of that sized vial once per month per ferret during mosquito
season. That delivers approximately 22 mg. of selamectin per ferret
per month. I have never had any kind of adverse reaction at all to
that dosage by any ferret.

As for 'over dosing', I used to give my ferrets a WHOLE vial of the
larger cat-sized Revolution, or 45 mg of selemectin per month. This
was before doing more research on my own and coming to the conclusion
that I feel more comfortable with now. So, they were getting 45 mg of
selemectin monthly during mosquito season. Fortunately, I never saw any
adverse reactions at all to that size dosage, either. And, if you read
back on some of the archives in the Ferret Health List, you will see
that some vets, at least in the past, recommended the whole tube of the
cats sized 5-15 lbs. per ferret per month. SO, I don't think you can
really overdose on Revolution unless your ferret is small and/or you
really give him or her an awful lot of the stuff. However, with that
being said, I also don't see any reason to take that chance IF you
believe that 1/2 of a vial of the cat sized 5-15 lbs. is adequate to
offer the protection you're seeking for your ferrets. And, given the
current cost of Revolution, which seems to go up quite a bit every
year, there's another reason not to over-medicate with it.

Jeff
In Loving Memory of Neo, Trinity, Morphy, Dozer, Possum, Pip, Pop,
Sabrina, Minnie Mouse, Hunny, Misty, Frodo, Baggins, and Mr. Parker
Caring for Luna, Baby Girl, Boomer, and Zoomer 

[Posted in FML 7301]