Question and Answer Session
Q: Dosages for topical treatment with
imidacloprid are usually calculated according to
body weight. On the other hand, the surface area
(i.e., hair and skin) as well as species, age, body
weight and sex have a major impact on how the
drug is distributed. Please comment on this
regarding the ferret studies.
A: For topically applied and active compounds, the surface
area is of more importance than the body weight. There is a differ-
ence in body weight and surface area between the smaller females
and the larger male ferrets. Certainly, this is an area that could be
investigated further, as we have seen real differences between the
two sexes. For example, in the U.S. study, where the animals were
treated with 1 pipette (0.4 ml) of imidacloprid per animal, the cal-
culated dosage was only 36.4 to 47.05 mg/kg in the heavier males
compared to 57.1 to 66.6 mg/kg in the lighter females. This had an
impact on the duration of flea efficacy in this study.
Q: How do you think these observations relate
to the rabbit study that compared hair surface area
to skin surface area?
A: The difference between rabbits and ferrets is that rabbits, by
and large, have a similar body conformation to cats. We can extrap-
olate within limits between one and the other, but the ferret shape
is very different. Physiologists look at rabbits and cats as more or less
spherical for calculating the ratio of surface area to volume and
weight, whereas ferrets are viewed as cylindrical. Of course, that
alters all of the arithmetic considerably. You can extrapolate from
cats to rabbits within reason, but you can’t extrapolate from cats to
ferrets. Furthermore, the skin structure and the amount of body fat
on the outer surface of the skin is quite different if you compare dogs
with cats and then rabbits and ferrets.
Suppl Compend Contin Educ Pract Vet Vol. 23, No. 4(A), 2001
Q: How was the itching/pruritus measured
in the cat FAD study?
A: The owners were asked to evaluate it by observing the cats
during a specific time period each day to see if they could tell how
much change had occurred. We extrapolated from the decrease in
clinical signs that were reported.
Q: Is it possible to use imidacloprid (Advantage ) ®
in other small animal species, like guinea pigs or
hamsters?
A: There is quite a lot of anecdotal information available that
imidacloprid has been used effectively to treat flea infestations in a
large variety of small domestic animals. We believe that this publi-
cation contains valid data demonstrating that it is possible to con-
trol flea infestations in rabbits and ferrets.
Q: What about flea infestations in hedgehogs?
A: Hedgehogs carry a lot of ectoparasites. However, we know
that we can control fleas in hedgehogs with imidacloprid without
concern.
We have also used imidacloprid on California ground squirrels to
control sylvatic plague. We found that it had a high level of thera-
peutic efficacy, but the duration of efficacy was variable because of
the nature of the ground squirrel and its hair and skin structure.
Bear in mind that we are not treating cat fleas on ground squir-
rels. The fleas found on ground squirrels are a different flea species
with a distinct biology. Again, the coat condition affects the effica-
cy of imidacloprid and the surface area of the skin is very im-
portant.
Second International Flea Control Symposium
Q: What prompted the Susceptibility
Monitoring Initiative?
A: The main reason for the initiative was to monitor suscepti-
bility of populations of fleas on animals that had been treated.
Those of us who work with fleas know that historically there is a
long list of compounds to which the cat flea has become resistant.
We are in the process of collating and analyzing data and establish-
ing appropriate parameters. If we do encounter a response suggestive
of resistance in the field, we will immediately clone the isolate and
TNAVC, January 2001
amplify it on cats so that we can characterize it by dosage titration.
We’ll also work with the veterinarian to develop a suggested means
of control, if needed.
At this point, however, we don’t have any reason to suspect or to
predict the existence of strains that behave any differently than the
field or laboratory strains that we’ve encountered.
The Advantage® International Flea Susceptibility Monitoring
Initiative is the first of its kind and will establish unique and detailed
methodologies that will be available to all who have an interest in
the field. That alone, we think, will be a tremendous benefit and we
owe a debt of gratitude to Bayer for their generous support.
Suppl Compend Contin Educ Pract Vet Vol. 23, No. 4(A), 2001