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Post by weeksl08 on Jul 28, 2008 20:12:14 GMT -5
Tuseday will be a week since the vax at the vet so I think I am going to go ahead and put their revolution on tomorrow. The vet said to use a whole tube on all of them but i don't know how comfortable I am with that. The dosage is for a 0-5 pound kitten so I know the vet thinks it's safe, but May is so tiny and Liberty isn't that big either. I'm thinking of putting just half a tube on the girls and a whole on on Constantine. He's big enough, I'm not too worried about him. Do you think this will be ok?? I would not normally give them such harsh chemicals but they have fleas pretty bad and they all have scabs and sores Mayhem had them when I brought her home and the bath did not kill them.
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Post by weloveourweasels on Jul 28, 2008 21:15:37 GMT -5
when Loki got fleas over at my boyfriends mom's house I just used regular pet shampoo and I let it sit in the fur for 5 minutes. This will work with any shampoo flea or not. I just massaged it into her the whole time allover her body so she wouldn't get too chilly and then i rinsed and vacuumed the room and sprinkled salt on the carpet the fleas eat the salt and dessicate themselves. and washed the bedding in hot water. Then I had no more fleas. it works i promise. But if you must use the revolution i think Kim (josiesmom) uses half a tube on her fuzzies each. Just make sure you keep them separated from each other for awhile (which i would think would be pretty hard to do) so they don't get any in their mouth while playing. I refuse to use any kind of chemical flea treatment. don't need to either...no fleas in our house.
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Post by weeksl08 on Jul 28, 2008 21:19:11 GMT -5
I planned on putting on on each level of my prevue cage and putting one in the travel cage ( superpets cage.) I asked this in the ferrets.com forum and one person said 1/3, another said 1/2 and another said 2 drops. It's starting to look like 1/2 should do it, but I'm still up for other suggestions!
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Post by reedgirl20 on Jul 28, 2008 21:33:44 GMT -5
I recommend 1/2 a tube for my patients and my own guys and have had no problems.
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Post by josiesmom on Jul 28, 2008 22:12:18 GMT -5
At Ferretopia Ferret Forum we had a thread about fleas and revolution. A member posted that in order to use Revolution to fight heart worm it would be necessary to use the full vial of CAT dosage. This lead me to send an email to the vet that was quoted by thet member. here is the result: ZOOOM! That was superfast! Dr. Jerry Murray DVM emailed me back with this statement: Hi Kim Yes, Pfizer recommends the cat Revolution for ferrets. When it first came out, Pfizer did a small study with ferrets. 1 out of 10 ferrets developed heartworms with the kitten dose, but none of the 10 developed heartworms with the cat dose. Thus the cat dose is recommended. Perhaps ferrets do not absorb the Revolution thru the thick skin on the neck as well as cats do. Anyway use one full tube of the cat Revoltuion once a month for heartworm prevention in ferrets. Hope that clears things up, Jerry Murray, DVM I dug through some of my bookmarks where I'd seen the study done using Revolution(selamectin) on Exotic animals www.jarvm.com/articles/Vol5Iss3/Beck%2087-96.pdf they mentioned that 15mg of selamectin regardless of the weight of ferret was sufficient to offer protection from fleas and ear mites, they went on to say in that paper that ferrets were 99.5% protected from heart worm at a rate of 6mg/kg and 100% protected from heart worm at a rate of 18 mg/kg. The kitten dosage is 15 mg per tubule and 45mg per tubule for the cat dosage. www.revolution4cats.com/docs/pdf/FullInfill.pdfI'll leave it up to each ferret owner as to their choice what to do. Personally I don't want to triple the dose of chemical introduced to my ferret. I may go ahead and use a full kitten dose in light of this new information since I DO live in a high risk for heart worm area. But I just am NOT comfortable with giving them triple the dosage. Heart worm is a serious problem in Florida and can also be prevented by using an oral dosing of an ivermectin solution, but ivermectin is NOT indicated as an effective flea control. As far as just a flea preventive, the half tube of Revolution for kittens used on my ferrets has been very effective. Cheers, Kim
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Post by aleronferrets on Jul 28, 2008 23:12:11 GMT -5
If you don't have a lot of pets, you can probably get rid of the fleas without using harsh pesticides on them. I'd suggest regular bathing with a mild shampoo, combing with a flea comb, washing all bedding often, flea lamps and treating the home and yard. Your yard can be treated with beneficial nematods - tiny benefical bugs that control the flea population. Indoors there are multiple choices for cleaning, let me know if you want more info. IF you decide to go with using a spot on I would advise against Revolution for treating flea problems, since it absorbed not only into the animal's skin but into their bloodstream. Both Advantage and Frontline are absorbed into the skin but not into the bloostream. Many people consider Advantage to be the most mild chemical spot ons.
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Post by josiesmom on Jul 29, 2008 8:14:09 GMT -5
I'm not going to get into another debate about Revolution but I will point out that while Selamectin is indeed absorbed into the blood stream through their skin, it is designed to do so and has been tested as to its safety being taken internally. Other spot ons that are NOT designed to be internal products will still be ingested by the ferret when it grooms itself, or when other ferrets groom it. NEVER, EVER use Bio Spot on ferrets- its been known to cause seizures and reported to cause deaths too.
For myself, I feel more comfortable using a product designed to be inside the ferret, NOT just outside the ferret.
I do NOT recommend frequent bathing of the ferret. Flea combs may be effective, but trying to comb a wriggly ferret to get out elusive fleas is practically impossible!
I'm interested in what these "nematodes" are that can be used in the yard to reduce fleas.
Even though our ferrets may not go outside, we can still bring fleas indoors on our clothing. So reducing the external population would be a big help!
Cheers, Kim
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Post by aleronferrets on Jul 29, 2008 8:56:11 GMT -5
I'm not going to get into another debate about Revolution but I will point out that while Selamectin is indeed absorbed into the blood stream through their skin, it is designed to do so and has been tested as to its safety being taken internally. Other spot ons that are NOT designed to be internal products will still be ingested by the ferret when it grooms itself, or when other ferrets groom it. NEVER, EVER use Bio Spot on ferrets- its been known to cause seizures and reported to cause deaths too. I think most of the spot on treatments have been reported to cause death or seizures. Certainly Revolution has, since it's product info contains a statement to that effect. For myself, I feel more comfortable using a product designed to be inside the ferret, NOT just outside the ferret. Bio-Spot is a cheap product and seems to cause more reactions than other spot ons. The Bio-Spot for dogs can ly to cats and likely to ferrets. I'd always suggest against using any cheap, grocery or pet store brand spot on. As for Revolution being totally safe - there is an entire thread on that If you (general) are interested in holistic care though, you's likely want to opt for the more mild cure. Revolution is the single spot on that enters the blood stream, when others do not is certainly not the most mild. It is meant to treat a large number of pests both internal and extrenal. It sounds like all Weeksl08 is treating is fleas, so why opt for Revolution? I do NOT recommend frequent bathing of the ferret. Flea combs may be effective, but trying to comb a wriggly ferret to get out elusive fleas is practically impossible! Bathing is not harmful to ferrets (or any other creature). It does not make ferrets "smell more" or dry out their skin if you use an appropriate shampoo. All that is something of a ferret forum wive's tale. If you use a harsh or inappropriate shampoo than bathing can strip the coat of oils, even if you just bath them a few times a year. Using an appropriate shampoo though, pets can be bathed very often with no ill effects. I'd suggest The Coat Handler shampoo (and conditioner). It is a very mild shampoo, especially intended for frequent, even daily use. It will not strip the coat and safe for cats. www.senproco.com/coathandler/faq_products_02.html This shampoo will not kill the fleas but the bathing will help remove them from the coat and also help with the itchies. Flea combing a ferret isn't any more difficult than nail clipping - you can simply scruff and comb or try to distract them with a treat and comb. I'm interested in what these "nematodes" are that can be used in the yard to reduce fleas. Even though our ferrets may not go outside, we can still bring fleas indoors on our clothing. So reducing the external population would be a big help! Some nematodes info: www.wormman.com/pd_nematodes.cfmwww.wormman.com/pd_nematodes.cfm
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Post by weeksl08 on Jul 29, 2008 9:28:31 GMT -5
Thank you all very much for your input! It is greatl;y appreciated.
as for why revolution, it is because my vet prefered it. He said there were some issues with advantage 9did not go into detail) and also said since I take them outside so often that he wanted to make sure they did not have any parasites or worms. I do not plan on using this or any other flea product in the future. The flea problem has just ogtten way out of hand. The shampoo soak did not work, and we didn't realize it until the other two were covered in scabs. Libby and Constantine have such thick undercoats, I did not spot any fleas on them when I checked them. I've been praying, washing and smaking their rugs on a regular basis, changing their fleece daily and spraying and shaking their hammocks. This is only my last resort. May has already lost most of her hair due to the fleas, and I don't want it getting any worse.
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Post by aleronferrets on Jul 30, 2008 8:47:33 GMT -5
as for why revolution, it is because my vet prefered it. He said there were some issues with advantage 9did not go into detail) and also said since I take them outside so often that he wanted to make sure they did not have any parasites or worms. I do not plan on using this or any other flea product in the future. The flea problem has just ogtten way out of hand. The shampoo soak did not work, and we didn't realize it until the other two were covered in scabs. Libby and Constantine have such thick undercoats, I did not spot any fleas on them when I checked them. I've been praying, washing and smaking their rugs on a regular basis, changing their fleece daily and spraying and shaking their hammocks. This is only my last resort. May has already lost most of her hair due to the fleas, and I don't want it getting any worse. Are you sure May's hairloss is from fleas? I have never seen a ferret lose most of their hair due to fleas, even when I have been unfortunate enough to see ferrets heavily infested. Do you have a picture of her? It sounds to me as though your vet is just pushing Revolution and like most people, you didn't question him further. Just like most vets push Science Diet foods. That doesn't mean they are the best products or the best thing for your pet. One person I was just talking to has a dog who becomes sick every month when given her heartworm medication. Her vet only sells two HW prevention brands - the first caused her to have seizures. So he switched her to the second, which isn't as bad but she is still sick for several days afterwards. He told them he doesn't suggest giving a different brand (and it just so happens he doesn't sell any other brands). So unless they change vets or go against thei rvet's suggestion, their dog continues to become ill every month. The frustrating thing about your vet's comment about Advantage is that there have been "issues" will ALL of the spot ons. They are all pesticides and applying pesticides to your animals has the potential for ill effects. From Revolution's website: "Post-approval experience:In addition to the aforementioned clinical signs that were reported in pre-approval clinical trials,there have been reports of pruritis, urticaria, erythema, ataxia, fever, and rare reports of death.There have also been rare ADVERSE REACTIONS: reports of seizures in dogs (see WARNINGS)." 64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:UA2BRIQsmOgJ:www.revolution4dogs.com/PAHimages/compliance_pdfs/US_EN_RV_compliance.pdf+revolution+product+info&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us&ie=UTF-8 This is part of Revolution's required packaging info. Doesn't it seem as though Revolution has has some issues since being approved? What worms was your vet concerned about? Your biggest worm risk right now is tapeworms, which come from ingesting fleas. Revolution does not treat tapeworm.
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