Hello, fuzzies and fuzzylovers!
I have seen repeated pleas for help with fleas, and I try to email most
with my experience, but I thought I'd share it with everyone, in hopes that
a few other people get the benefit of this.  I lived in Florida with pets
for over 7 years, although I now live in Ohio, but even here, due to my
mother's cats being outdoors part time, I've dealt with my share of the
nasty little buggers.
 
I have tried bombs, sprays, carpet powders, constant vacuuming, flea dips
(on cats only) and shampoos.  About a year ago I discovered an absolute
God-send in the fight with fleas.  It's called 'Frontline' but there is a
very similar product called 'Advantage'.  I've only used 'Frontline' but
from what I hear, the only difference between this and the 'Advantage' is
that 'Frontline' is also effective on ticks, which was one of my concerns
with some outdoor cats.  Both products are available only through vets, and
follow your vet's instructions about dosing for ferrets, because it hasn't
yet been approved for use in ferrets, so there is no dosage size
specifically for them.  Actually, I think this is better, because if it
does happen, I'm sure the company would make a single dose for fuzzies and
the price would skyrocket.  What my vet prescribed was one drop for my 12
week old, and two drops for my 5 month old ferret, from the dog dosage for
23-35 pound dogs.  You could easily treat 4 or 5 fuzzies from one dose.
BTW, the reason they prescribed the dog dosage is because it's actually
less concentrated than the cat's dosage, due to the fact that cats bathe
themselves so frequently.
 
All you have to do with the medicine is put it on the back of the neck of
the animal.  I found a dramatic decrease in fleas within 2 days, and no
sign of them within a week.  It kills the fleas before they even bite,
which was critical for my cat who has awful flea-bite allergies.  I didn't
need to use any other flea products, just vacuum thoroughly for a few days,
and wash the bedding in a hot wash.  The only side effect that I noticed is
that Dessie, our 12 week old seemed kinda itchy for about 5 minutes, then
he forgot about it.  In the two months since we've treated, we haven't seen
one flea, and we even added a new ferret, Chumba, without having to treat
her.  I've found that the medicine costs $25 to $35, and it's worth it's
weight in gold, considering time, and expense of using other multiple
products to treat.  Good luck with the battle!
 
Sherry
Dessie (I don't have fleas anymore, Mommy, but I still like to scratch
alot, it just feels good!)
Chumba (Are you using those socks, ya know, the ones on your feet??)
[Posted in FML issue 2501]