Karri, You asked about Program and Advantage. Here's what I know about them. Both products have been officially tested and approved for dogs and cats. However, they have also been "unofficially" tried on ferrets, and the "unofficial" consensus is that they are both fine for ferrets. They are both available only by prescription from your vet, who needs to see your pet first (weight, general health, etc.) before prescribing. The vet will ask you to sign a release form first, because the products have not been officially approved for ferrets. Advantage is a wonderful product. For ferrets, the cat/kitten (under 9 lbs) version is used. It comes in tube form; one package contains four tubes. Once a month, you apply the solution (one tube) directly to skin near the base of the animal's head. Then let it dry-- don't let the fert carpet-shark it off by rubbing around on the rug. Twenty-four hours later, all the fleas (98--100%) on your pet will be dead. Your pet can't really reach back there to lick it off, so it's perfect for ferts like mine who have a difficult time with all-over flea products. It's water-soluble, so you shouldn't bathe your fert UNLESS it's done between applications, and the pet must be completely dry before the next dose is applied. As you can see, it works pretty fast; the idea is to kill the fleas before they can lay their eggs . Program (lufenuron) is also administered once a month. It comes in either liquid form (cats) or pill form (dogs). As in the case of Advantage, the dose is based on weight, so you would use the version for animals under ten pounds-- either liquid or pill. One package contains six treatments (taken orally). We use the pill form, crush it up in a mortar, and administer it mixed in Ferretvite. You need to be careful and not lose any of the crumbs or powder-- the animal needs to take the entire amount. You can dillute the Ferretvite with a little Petromalt if necessary; we give it as a blob on the hand, and let her lick it off. Program doesn't produce perceptible results until four weeks or more have passed. It does not kill adult fleas, but chemically disrupts the flea's reproductive cycle so that the flea can't produce viable eggs. As you can see, the fleas must first BITE your pet in order for Program to affect them-- it is a long-term approach-- so you have to use it in conjunction with another flea product (as long as fleas are present in your home) which kills the adult fleas. Also, all other pets in the household must be on Program, too, in order to completely destroy the next generation of fleas. You will need to keep using it even after the life cycle of your household fleas has been stopped, since it is always possible to re-infest your home with hitch-hiking fleas on your clothes from outdoors/other people's pets. I really don't know much about Frontline, but I'm under the impression that it is similar to Advantage, only each dose lasts MUCH longer and the product is NOT water-soluble. I suppose that could be either a potential minus or a plus, depending on the individual situation. I'm a little nervous about anything that I couldn't wash off my little one if I needed to. We recently found out (the hard way) that our Weezie is allergic to fleas. She also seemed to be having some reactions to the other flea products (we aren't sure about this). Advantage solved all our problems. I'm really, really pleased with it. One package costs about thirty bucks, and boy is it worth every penny. Weezie is approaching her third month on Program and her second month on Advantage (we have her on both concurrently). Since she's been on Advantage, I've found fleas on her once, the other day (three fleas). Haven't found any since, so it may have been a freak occurence or maybe they were mutant Rambo fleas. I still flea-comb her to check her for them, but now I am using a DRY comb (important!) so as not to get her neck damp. We plan to keep her on Program year-round, and slack off on the Advantage during the cold months, as long as the fleas have disappeared. Isabel Two and Tristan's Lady (Weezie) "So... you like your exotic dogs, Miss Fincannon?" "Very much, Mr. Ludlow." ********************************************************** [Moderator's note: I'd like to add a few comments to "Isabel Two"'s informative post: - Program is more effective if taken with food. The more food the better. - Neither Advantage nor Frontline require a perscription, but it is the the manufacturers' policy to sell only to veterinarians. They were given approval as pesticides, not as drugs since neither is actually absorbed into the animals' body. - More and more vets do seem to like having their clients sign disclaimers though I find it at least a little bit amusing since there are *NO* drugs approved for ferrets (2 vaccines are approved). I mean, do you sign a disclaimer to get something like an antibiotic? BIG] [Posted in FML issue 1727]