I have now, unfortunately, been initiated into the club of "kids" who have
had a horrible reaction to their rabies/distemper shots.
 
I took Bear, my MF 2.12# albino boy and Rocky, my MF 2# sable girl to the
vet tuesday night for their annual shots.  They are both 1y and 4mos old
and had no problem with the shots they received last year.  The only
difference was they had them 19 days apart and this year the vet said he
could give them both at the same visit.
 
Bear went first and although he gave the vet a nasty look like "Hey what
are you doing back there, and why are you pinching my neck where I can't
get to bite you." he did just fine.  Then it was Rocky's turn.  She was
very upset and hissed through the whole thing.  Rocky had a big lump under
her skin from the one shot and the vet rubbed her neck to get it to go down
but other than that she was fine.
 
I went to the desk to pay the bill and was talking to the receptionist who
loves my kids and stayed a little longer than I usually do talking because
we where the last people there besides one other women who the doctor had
just brought back to see her cat.
 
After I paid the bill and got done talking I was putting my stuff away and
the receptionist went into the back room to start closing things down.  I
went to pick up the carrier the kids where in and saw Rocky cough, then the
sh*t hit the fan.  She started projectile vomiting.  I took her out and she
left the receptionist a nice present on her desk and then I got scared.  I
called out to them and said hey, Rocky is throwing up, I need help.  They
immediately brought her back into the exam room, the doc left the other
patient (cat) and went to get a benedril shot for her.  By the time he got
back (he had to figure out how much to give her for her weight) she had
completely emptied her tummy and could not get a breath.  She fur was
standing on end from head to toe, her heart was racing, and her eyes where
glazed over.  He got the shot in her and rushed her into the other room to
give her oxygen.  The benedril took effect fairly quickly (not quick enough
for me or Rocky) and they kept her on oxygen and watched her heart rate for
1 1/2 hours.
 
When they thought she was stabile enough and her heart rate was slowed
down considerably they let me bring her home with three more doses of
benedril and instructions to keep a close eye on her overnight and not
let her have any water for at least four hours. I carried her in my arms
on the drive home which thankfully is just around the block and brought
her in the house. She wanted down very badly and so I put her on the
floor by the carrier which Bear was no longer in. She went directly into
the carrier and went potty. Well I didn't think anything about it until
I went to clean it up and all her stool consisted of was blood and
mucus. Now, I have to say, that thanks to all I have read over the past
six months on the FML made seeing this a little less frightening for me
as I know I have read that their systems are so sensitive and the blood
in the poop, although not a good sign, was probably just from her
throwing up so much and so hard.
 
I of course got no sleep that night because I was afraid she would start
reacting again if I didn't keep a very close eye on her.  At 1am it was
time to give her more benedril and I decided to try a little water, boy was
she happy to get a drink.  I only let her have a little until I knew how
she would react.  She did just fine but did have another bloody stool.
This time though it had some consistency to it instead of just blood and
mucus so I prayed that that was a good sign.
 
When the benedril took effect again I laid her down next to me and she
slept for about 3 hours.  I still didn't get much sleep because she kept
sticking her foot in my nose or mouth.  At 11am I gave her more benedril
and by that time she was eating and drinking almost like normal and even
had a little bit of energy.  Her stool had a touch more blood but was
basically back to normal and there was no more blood at all after that.
Her last dose of medicine was 7pm last night and by then she was playing
and attacking one of her stuffed animals (most likely wishing it was the
vet!)
 
Today I am very relieved to say she is fully back to normal in every
aspect and honestly even though the vet said we would pre-medicate her
next year before her shot and also do them a couple of weeks apart I
don't know if I can talk myself into going back.
 
I thank you all with all my heart for the information I have received
from this forum, without it I would never had made it through this.
 
I have a question, the shots they receive from this vet are Fervac - D
for distemper and Imrabl for rabies. Are these good shots to use on the
ferrets and has anyone else who's fuzzies have reacted had their vets
use these?
 
Give all your fuzzies big hugs and kisses.
 
Cherie
Owned by the most wonderful ferrets alive (in my opinion) Rocky and Bear.
[Posted in FML issue 3006]