Okay, here's my two cents worth on shampoos.
 
I once lived in Cincinnati, which for some reason is the most flea-ridden
place I have ever seen (and I've lived in Houston, Chicago, and various
places on the eaatern seaboard).  I have three little ones, and they are
flea magnets.  First I went the chemical shampoo route.  Great, the ferrets
traded itching flea bites for itching/burning ezcmema.  Not a great trade
off.  Then one of my freinds (an evil cat-owner) suggested that I try a
"flea comb", which does a very good job of removing adults, but nothing for
eggs.  Then one day I came home to find that the ferrets had gotten into the
fireplace, and were covered in soot, and needed a good washing.  The only
thing I had at hand was Suave Shampoo, so I used it.  Lo and behold, not
only did the ferrets come sparkling clean (several shades lighter than I
thought), but the stunned, water-logged fleas got stuck in the foam, and
were washed down the drain.  It must have washed away the eggs, too, after a
week of daily washing (with judicious vacuming and washing of bedding),
presto, no more fleas.  The fur came out fluffy and soft, instead of sticky
the way it had with the flea shampoo.  The ferrets' skins weren't half as
irritated as they had been on that awful flea medication, and they smelled
kinda good for a while - certainly better than the tar smell that those flea
shampoos leave.  And best of all, Suave is something like 10x cheaper per
ounce than flea shampoos (the last bottle I bought was $.99 for a great big
bottle).
 
Bottom line, I'll take Suave for my little ones.
 
Cheers,
 
Gwen M. Daley
Department of Geological Sciences
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0420
[Posted in FML issue 1484]