Establishment of the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis felis) on the ferret (Mustela putorius furo) and its control with imidacloprid

As the ferret, Mustela putorius furo L. (Carnivora: Mustelidae), is becoming increasingly popular as a pet animal and as it is susceptible to the cat-flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis Bouché (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae), an experimental model was established for evaluating insecticidal treatments on this host. A high establishment rate (76.7-91.8%) was recorded when 60 unfed adult C. felis were placed on ferrets. This provided an adequate infestation for chemotherapeutic evaluation without causing undue discomfort to the host. Twelve ferrets were allocated to two groups matched for sex and individual ability to sustain a flea population. One group was treated topically with an imidacloprid spot-on formulation at a dose rate of 10 mg/kg body-weight on Day 0. All ferrets were infested with C. felis on Days -1, 7, 14, 21 and 28, and flea counts were performed 8 and 24 h post-treatment and one day after each subsequent infestation. Fleas were removed at all but the 8 h count (when they were returned to their host). Flea burdens were reduced by 95.3% (P < 0.001) within 8 h of treatment and 100% efficacy was recorded at 24 h. At 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks post-treatment, protection against re-infestation was 92.9% (P < 0.001), 55.7% (P < 0.02), 18.3% (NS) and 7.4% (NS), respectively. Thus, at this dose rate, imidacloprid gave excellent efficacy against a resident C. felis population and provided a high level of residual activity for at least one week after treatment.