Flea treatment

[Deleted]

my furbabies have fleas and I have no clue where those suckers came from. So what is the best, SAFEST treatment out there to help with this minor case of fleas? And best way to treat my home that is just as safe?
ps. I hope I posted in the right place.

[Heather]

For the occasional outbreak, I just vacuum daily, use a tick comb and a glass with soap twice daily. This process I usually keep up for a month or so. If I can't seem to get ahead of the game then I resort to using Advantage topical. It usually takes 2 doses and then it's been caught up
ciao

[raynebc]

I think I remember hearing recommendations to put some mothballs in the vacuum bag so any fleas/eggs that are vacuumed up get killed.

[Heather]

According to a study, there was no need for anything toxic in the vacuum bag. You just needed to empty it and dispose immediately. Seemingly the action of the vacuum is enough. I have heard of spraying the bag with some sort of flea spray, use diatomaceous earth, a piece of a flea collar....a number of ways to protect the bag. I've found it just as effective to just dump the contents
ciao

[Corvidophile]

Selamectin delivered as a spot-on is the current preferred drug, brand names include Revolution and Stronghold, and dose for a ferret is 15 mg delivered once a month, two consecutive months. This will knock out almost any flea problem, most go away with just one month, two is just to get any stragglers and hatchlings in the carpet that haven't yet bit the ferret. Second preferred drug is its cousin ivermectin, though neurological damage is occasionally reported with this one, and the dosage is more widely disputed.

[Sherry]

actually Corvidophile Advantage Multi is the ONLY one actually tested for ferrets and deemed safe. However many vets also recommend Revolution also. The only thing I have ever used ivermectin on is ear mites. And only as liquid drops.

[abbeytheferret6]

I have used Revolution kitten dose for ear mites. It is also used for fleas. You may have to get this by way of vet. I had to.

Do not use anything that is used for dogs as it may have ingredients that r toxic to cats and ferrets. 
I would not let ferrets play with each other until it has dried really good

[Corvidophile]

@sherry Interesting, I've never actually heard of this one being used with ferrets, thanks for pointing it out!

[Sherry]

I believe bitbyter was the one with the info

[bitbyter]

Yes Advantage Multi is actually the ONLY anti-parasitic that has passed official testing on ferrets. Most others are used unoffically off label. This is not to say they are unsafe. Just officially untested.

www.bayer.ca/en/news-room/press-releases/advantage-multi-now-approved-for-ferrets_final/

[Deleted]

I have used the Revolution for cats to treat fleas on our ferrets, but literally only 2-3 drops - I use the rest of the dosage on a kitty! Of course, my ferrets at the time were between two and three pounds. Larger ferrets may require more drops. I use the dosage recommended by our vet, and only when there is a problem, not on a monthly basis. I also thoroughly wash all their bedding, all our bedding, rugs, etc., and give a good vacuum as others have suggested. Actually scrubbing down their cage is important too I think.

[Deleted]

How can Advantage Multi be safe when it's manufactured by a company that is partnered w the world's biggest poisoner of our world...Monsanto? I'd be dealing w fleas before letting them near anything I loved

[Deleted]

I don't believe in using insecticides on my animals unless absolutely unavoidable. Luka had fleas when we first brought him home and we treated them successfully with a combination of dawn dish soap baths, diatomaceous earth and crushing the adult fleas when we found them. You have to really work the dawn into the animal's fur if you go that route.

I've also noticed (though this is just anecdotal) that my dogs - who are on a natural prey model raw diet - don't pick up fleas in areas with high flea populations that give other dogs problems. Like missmo said, it's so important to keep your other animals, carpet, bedding, vacuum etc. clean or they can hide out and then re-establish later!

[Sherry]

Dawn dish soap will never be advised. It strips oils etc from their coats and is what is used to help strip colour from hair for dyeing, as well as stripped toxic sludge oil from animals who would otherwise die.

[Deleted]

Oct 26, 2016 11:37:14 GMT -5 Sherry said:

Dawn dish soap will never be advised. It strips oils etc from their coats and is what is used to help strip colour from hair for dyeing, as well as stripped toxic sludge oil from animals who would otherwise die.

I'm not arguing that Dawn is a perfect product or that it's entirely safe, but I and many others use it in animal applications with no issues. Many wildlife rehabilitators use Dawn for purposes far beyond oil spill victims. Personally, I have used Dawn under licensed rehabilitators' guidance to help remove gasoline from a roadrunner's feathers, to help rid orphaned raccoons and opossums of the smell of the decaying moms they were found on, to help stop flea outbreaks in wildlife and in pets, to clean supplies and cages, etc. etc.

In the wild bird and mammal rehabilitation facilities I've volunteered and worked in Dawn has been used as a tool for helping animals. I don't bathe animals with it as a shampoo, but other than stripping natural oils from the coat it is relatively harmless to mammals when kept out of the eyes and mouth. It also kills adult fleas on contact. I'd prefer to use Dawn over oral or topical insecticides whenever possible - and it is certainly preferable to anemia from a flea infestation. Again, I'm not trying to be argumentative but while I've witnessed convulsions and death from flea treatment chemicals like ivermectin, I've never seen an animal directly harmed by a bath involving Dawn.