Collective,
 
I guess I wasn't too clear in my post about fleas.  I wrote in respect to
ferrets:
 
>I use PROGRAM for CATS on my fur balls.  You SHOULD NOT use Program for
>dogs.  Ferrets and Cats need a higher dosage of the medicine.
 
And had the response:
 
>I do not understand why you wrote that you should not give Program to dogs?
>I especially do not understand why cats and ferrets need *higher* dosages.
>They're smaller than dogs, and of course ferrets are smaller than cats,
>therefore should require a *smaller* dosage.
 
Giving Program to dogs is fine.  One of the previous posters had asked
whether it was appropriate to give Program designed for dogs to ferrets.
According to my vet, ferrets should get the cat dosage which is, in fact,
higher than the dog dosage.  I should have written: "You SHOULD NOT use
Program for dogs on ferrets".  I'm guessing, though I don't know, that cats
and ferrets metabolize the medicine in a different way than dogs.  Any vets
out there care to take a stab and clear the mystery of Program Dosage?
 
Cheryl asks:
>What exactly is ferret proofing?  I have baby locks on my kitchen cabinet
>but they still get in.  Some how on the side of my kitchen where the sink
>is Chief gets on top of the cabinets.  I have no idea how he gets up there.
 
Ferret proofing is the art of figuring out what might be dangerous to our
fur kids and making sure that danger is circumvented.  For example, plugging
holes that might allow the critters to get under the stove, keeping
dangerous chemicals out of reach, making sure that electrical wires aren't
easily chewable, keeping rubber objects that might be chewed out of harms
way, etc.  I think it becomes second nature after a while, and is GREAT
practice for that time when you might have a human toddler!
 
Climbing and getting into things, yup, that's one of the endearing AND
frustrating things about our little critters.  If they can find a
way....they will.  I tried baby locks--didn't help.  For a long time I had
boxes of soda pop forever in the kitchen shoved up against cabinet doors.  I
ended up purchasing spring latches that hold tight from the inside from my
local hardware store.  They have two little "wheels" that spring together on
one half and the other half is a little diamond shaped piece of metal that
fits between the wheels.  I installed these on all the kitchen cabinets, top
and bottom and have had no trouble with the critters getting in since.  They
cost about 60 cents each.  If you want to know exactly what they look like,
drop me a line and I'll take a picture and post it on the web.
 
Cheers!
Matthew.
 
===========================================================
The Arts in Technology--Creative Consulting and Contracting
 
J. Matthew Saunders (540)951-3090
[log in to unmask]  http://dogstar.bevd.blacksburg.va.us/
 
"We have to work in the theatre of our own time,
with the tools of our own time" --Robert Edmond Jones
===========================================================
[Posted in FML issue 2325]