I though I would include the e-mail on the FML to discuss Program, the
once-a-month flea product.
 
>>QUESTION:
Mike,
CA vets are reluctant to prescribe Program (or Imrab, for that matter).  I
know you can't recommend such things, so here's a hypothetical:
A CA ferret owner happens upon a couple 250mg tablets of Program that were
supposed to be ingested once a month by a dog.  The ferret owner has been
battling fleas for two years and knows that summer's coming and will make
things worse.  Flea problem moderate: inconvenient for owner and itchy for
ferrets, but not life threatening.  This owner checks on ferret Program
dosages and finds that they're 2X cat which are 2X dog (by weight).  After
some mental gymnastics he decides he's going to crush a tablet, split it
into tenths, and give his 2.3 lb ferret a 25mg dosage each month.  (By fall
the ferret might be legal, and then the CA owners and vets don't need to
worry about such things; the vet can actually treat animals in the way he
was trained.)
 
Is the owner sweating things too much, or might he go ahead with the Program
program?
 
Thanks for contributing to the FML.  Your answers are read and appreciated
by more than those who ask the questions.
 
>>REPLY:
Yes, Program is an extralabel usage for ferrets.  However that is permitted
by federal law.  Ciba-Geigy recommends that the cat dosing be used for
non-dogs.  In this case for the ferret use either
 
1) the cat suspension 135 mg or
2) the dog pill 45 mg. In 2), the ferret's weight is multiplied by 3 (the
conversion factor from dog to cat) and the result is 6.9.  For a 6.9 dog (or
a 2.3 pound non-dog), use the appropriate size dog tablet (45 mg).
 
This stuff is very nontoxic to mammals since it stops the formation of
chitin for the outer shell and mammals do not produce chitin.
 
Mike Dutton, DVM, DABVP
 
[Moderator's note: More info on Program dosages issues 1169 and 1514.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 1541]