Fleas....what a circus!

Fleas....UGH!  Not many things make a zookeeper panic more than the thought of fleas on 11 critters.  The other day I was spending some cuddle time with Theo and one hopped right off.  Upon further inspection I found 3 more.  Cripes.  I know that he is not the source because on the day we brought him home he did not pass go and headed straight into the shower for a bath with medicated shampoo we had left over from the last flea episode following our trip to the beach.

Anyway - he was showered and reinspected - no bugs.  That brought on the mass quantity inspection of all the other critters.  I checked Finn and Violet - thankfully no bugs.  Maddie and Clooney - all clear.  Ollie, Phoebe, Zoey and Aggie - bug free.  Nigel - nothing.  Emma had a few on her - so - into the shower she went with the medicated shampoo on her as well.

This is where I give my plug for Frontline.  I had treated all the kitties and all the ferrets with Frontline when we had the last episode and I have to say it did its job well as none of the treated critters had any little pests on them.  Only Theo who was untreated got them.  Emma was on Trifexis and was behind which was my bad and probably why she had a few on her.  She is up to date now for sure!  Needless to say - I headed to the vets office to pick up another round of the Frontline.  5 ferrets and 4 kitties have been treated and should all be protected.  I use the feline flea treatment on the ferrets - there isn't a ferret specific formula and the general rule of thumb is that if its safe for kitties its safe for ferrets.  This was, however, a vet approved decision.  As always - I am not a vet and you should not consider this a recommendation for how to care for your pets - please check with your vet before giving any kinds of medications or treatments to your furries.

As a precautionary step  - all bedding has been laundered, all carpet has had the flea powder applied and vacuumed up and a flea collar has been cut up and placed in the vacuum canister to kill any live ones that I manage to suck up.  I think I caught this very early.  I found a total of 7 fleas on 2 critters.  Could have been so so much worse.