Indirect labeling - 2 indirect labels

Hi all,

  The e-mail questions from me continue. :)  I have a quick question 
about indirect labeling of antibodies when using two indirect staining 
antibodies.  We have a researcher who is working with CD44 and CD117 
staining in human ovarian cancer cells.    We've done sorting for them 
on these before, but I just want to help them make sure they are getting 
the best staining possible.  We can visualize CD44 well for the most 
part, but the CD117 seems very dim, not much of it, and minimal 
separation.  The fluorophore choices seem to be minimal with these, too.

They are using the following combination of antibodies, and received 
their protocol from someone doing similar research:

rat anti-mouse CD44
chicken anti-rat IgG-PE
mouse anti-CD117
goat anti-mouse IgG-FITC

So - my inquiry is broken down into bits:

1 - Is labeling with two indirectly labeled antibodies wise?  What are 
the pitfalls?
2 - What's the likelihood these Abs are going to/are reacting 
non-specifically?
3 - When using a protocol, can you throw both primary antibodies at the 
same time, wash X amount of times, and then add both secondaries at the 
same time?  Or is that in general, a bad idea?	Currently the researcher 
is labeling with one primary, washing, labeling with the other primary, 
washing, then same thing for the secondaries.  Oh, and blocking with 1% 
BSA initially.
4 - Would primary Abs to CD44 and CD117 be a wiser decision? 

  Also - the researcher is working with human cells first, then 
injecting into mice, which is one reason that they are using mouse/rat 
Abs.  There are human direct Abs to each CD44 and CD117 - but would the 
cross reactivity decrease?  Supposedly these mouse/rat Abs cross-react 
well with the human cells, but that's per the manufacturer.  There are 
also mouse Abs to CD117 and CD44, but can anyone tell me if the 
cross-reactivity would be sufficient?

Thanks again for all your help!  The flow list is an awesome resource!	
Hopefully some day I will be able to contribute as much as many of you 
do in answering questions!

Best,

Christiane