Lisette wrote:
>I am afraid of getting fleas from him.  He does not remember when his
>brother came bringing flea powder or what he powdered.  And I am terrified
>of passing fleas onto my ferrets....
 
OK, here's my 2 cents on fleas, with whom I have had a LOT of experience
over the years(!!):
 
If you can, get the brother to put Advantage on the cat IMMEDIATELY.  As
for the other junk (powders, sprays, over the counter stuff)--a lot of them
don't work, and some of them are downright toxic--seriously.  (If's he's
already put stuff on the cat, wait a while before putting Advantage on;
MANY FLEA PREPARATIONS ARE VERY STRONG.)
 
Yes, you can get flea bites and bring the little guys home with you.  You
won't 'get' fleas like a cat or dog or ferret but you can get bitten and
bring them home with you.
 
Getting rid of fleas does not have to be the big deal it used to be.  I
HIGHLY recommend using Advantage.  I use it ONLY on my dog and the fleas
are gone from all the other animals in my house (cats and ferrets).
 
Re: 'crush' movies:
The American Humane Association is the group that monitors movies--ever
notice the little note at the end of a lot of American films--'no animals
were harmed, etc.'---That's the AHA.  Their website is:
http://www.americanhumane.org/
 
The AHA also does very interesting work on the link between violence to
animals and violence to humans.  I do not know what they can do about
private movies, but they have a lot of experience in this area.
 
HSUS <http://www.hsus.org/> also takes on a lot of 'large' issues.  They
can be VERY effective and helpful.  I would suggest contacting these 2
groups.  HSUS has national and regional offices.  They also do a lot of
work with the link between animal/human violence.
 
Ronnie in Mass.
[Posted in FML issue 2785]