Ferrets don't have a lot of blood to begin with, so having that
precious fluid sucked out by fleas can quickly put them in dire
straits. Fleas transfer tapeworm nematodes too as well as other
diseases. Some transmissible to humans. Its definitely best for
everyone to eradicate fleas! Living in Florida, fleas are a year
round concern, as are other blood suckers. Fleas can be picked up
by humans simply from walking through the grass!

I use Revolution for puppies and kittens. Besides fleas it eliminates
ticks, and internal parasites. A new rescue gets a bath with ferret
flea shampoo, dosed with revolution and hopefully soon converts to the
natural diet program. Scoff if you will, but ferrets eating naturally
seem to exhibit a natural immunity to fleas!

There are many natural flea control products available but most, if not
all, are only tested safe for cats and dogs. Problem is they usually
are based on plant oils many of which are very aromatic but harmful
to small, sensitive ferret airways. Pennyroyal oil is common but is
harmful to pregnant and lactating animals. Cedar oil is common too but
severely harmful to airways. Peppermint oil while in minute doses taken
internally can sooth gastric issues, can burn airways and make the eyes
water. Lemon grass oil smells nice but it too can irritate sensitive
skin and rarely is effective for more than a few hours. Citronella oil
is another common "natural" repellant; but needs frequent
reapplication. You also need to take into account the emulsifiers and
diluents used - ethyl eugenols (clove oil derivative) are harmful and
surprisingly are used as attractants in many insect bait stations and
traps!

Revolution is designed to be applied topically but gets absorbed
through the skin and into the blood which then will protect the ferret.
I split one vial between two ferrets. I used to dose every three months
as the mfr recommends, but now only dose once a year. Evaluate your
ferrets exposure to parasites and adjust accordingly. My preferred
supplier is joespetmeds.com least expensive site so far, fast shipping,
non expired products too!

While I am a big proponent of natural approaches from feeding to
lighting to housing; sometimes modern warfare against parasites is
safer and prevails. Revolution has won the war against all parasites
for my ferrets!

Cheers,
Kims
A bit of Pocket_Fuzz from my Windows Phone!=

[Posted in FML 7289]