To Jim who wrote:
>"My two fuzzies plus my greyhound dog have fleas and we have tried
>everything to get rid of them---bombs--dips--all bedding washed (in
>linco first) and have put powder on ground outside--nothing has worked."
 
My dog has been on Advantage for the last three years.
 
When I asked my vet what I should do for my ferrets he said put their cage
up off the floor.  If they never went out they wouldn't get fleas.  When I
explained that I put harnesses on my twosome and took them out he thought
for a moment and said that he didn't think I would need to treat the
ferrets as long as my dog stayed on Advantage.
 
I have (so far) found this to be true.  Perhaps you could try treating the
dog.  I would also approach your vet with the idea of temporarily putting
your dog on the the pill (sorry I can't think of the name of this right
now) that causes fleas to become sterile once they bite an animal taking
the pill.  This would speed up the process of making your home flea free.
 
My friend's very cluttered house was over run w/ fleas.  Since clearing
things out enough to use a bomb wasn't an option she chose another route.
She has two russian wolfhounds and a cat...by treating the dogs w/ the pill
first and then switching to Advantage she has had no fleas.
 
I can't use the pill with my dog because she suffers from flea allergy,
once she's bitten she can escalate to a nasty case of staph infection...and
that can take months to clear up!
 
I have toyed w/ the idea of giving each of the ferrets a drop of the
Advantage before putting the rest on my dog as the dose covers a dog quite
a bit heavier than she is.
 
Thr reasons I've balked at putting the Advantage on the ferrets are first
of all, I don't live near my vet and don't have a car...which could be
scary if there was an allergic reaction.  Also, I worry about about them
ingesting some of the Advantage while they wrestle.  If you decide to talk
to the vet about doing this, maybe you could ask how long it took to lose
it's on-the-surface toxicity!
 
Let us all know what you decide.
 
Pat
Tess (I haven't had to deal with fleas for three years--no staph, no itch,
     no self mutilation...I don't know what to do with all this free time!)
Shiloh (I had a flea once, didn't I Mom, you gave me a BATH...couldn't I
       have just rolled all over Tess, it would have been more fun?)
Amadeus (What's a flea?)
[Posted in FML issue 2475]