Hi Richard,

I think you aren't getting feedback on this because there is no good answer.

My advice is to stick with natural light and always force the P&S flash off. Also, the work lights at Home Depot are not dangerous if you use the clamp on lights with porcelain bases AND you replace all the bulbs with compact florescent bulbs, so that is also a possibilty.

A more elegant solution is to find a cheap slave booster like the Quanterray units that Ritz used to sell for $10-$15 and put it to the front and side of the animal, then block your p&S flash from hitting the animal but don't block it so much that the slave doesn't fire. These won't work with cameras that employ a preflash. Google search on "slave flash booster" or "wireless slave flash"