Hi to everyone.  I work in an animal clinic in Mt.  Prospect, Il.  I am not a
technician or vet so if my information is incorrect I hope that Dr.  Williams
will correct me.  The flea pill I believe you were describing is called
"Program" (Lufenuron).  It is very new to the industry as it was just approved
for sale this year for dogs, (the liquid form for cats is to be released this
month or July at the latest).  I do not recommend this pill for ferret use.
Why?  Because it has not been approved yet and we do not know what kind of
effect it could have on ferrets.  I asked the company representative when she
came to give our clinic a presentation on the product in March if it was
approved for ferret use or if she felt it was safe, as a lot of companies
won't test products for ferret use as it is too expensive.  She said at this
time they had not done any testing concerning ferret safety in the use of
Program and she would not recommend it.  She did not know if there would be
any testing but did say they had considerable trouble in finding a way to make
it safe for cats.  Program is produced by the Ciba-Geigy Corporation and is
given once a month to dog (same day each month).  Essentially it sterilizes
the female flea making her unable to lay eggs.  The adult flea will still
survive and live its normal life-span therefore still able to make the poor
animal miserable but the life cycle ends there.  All other pets must be
treated with some sort of flea prevention if they are not on the pill as the
fleas on them are still fertile.  As flea season is just starting here in
Chicago I cannot tell you how effective this "miracle" pill really is but I
can tell you that as long as it is given with food there should be no side
effects, even dogs with severe flea allergies can take it.  Personally, after
talking to their representative, I would have to say I think it is unwise to
give ferrets this pill until we have more information on it, just because dogs
won't have side-effects does not mean ferrets won't either.  I apologize for
the length of this post.  Usually my husband is the one who does the posting
for us but I had to put my two cents in this time .
Thanks,
Suzie and Rob Broadhead
Matso and Katie(K2)
[Posted in FML issue 1210]