J.
 
I had to respond because I totally understand what you are going through.
Immediately after Zinc's reaction, I sought help from a variety of vets.
And just before she was due again, I researched it more.  It seemed that
everytime I made a decision about the course of action to take with her,
I would read something or a vet would bring up a valid point, making me
question my decision.  I must have changed decisions at least 8 times.
These seemed to be my options: vaccinate with Fervac, vaccinate with Fervac
and pretreat with Benadryl, vaccinate with Galaxy D, vaccinate with Galaxy
D and pretreat with Benadryl, don't vaccinate, and get a titer test done
for distemper.  I think I remember reading once on the FML about someone
losing a ferret from a reaction to the vaccination despite being pretreated
with Benedryl.  I think what Benadryl ended up doing was just to postpone
the reaction.  I believe this is particularly rare, but some vets have
confirmed that this could potentially happen.  My thoughts on this were
that I'd rather have a reaction occur at the vet's (where help is readily
avaiable) than 8 hours later at home.  But, like I said, I think the
potential of that happening is quite rare.
 
You'll get a number of different opinions on what to do.  The most common
(not in any particular order) are (1) switch to Galaxy D; (2) pretreat
with Benadryl; and (3) don't vaccinate.  I have opted for the titer test.
Basically, it's a blood test to determine the level of protection your
ferret currently has against distemper.  Unfortunately, baseline data is
lacking and there's no guarantee that the results are accurate.  It's not a
100% definitive answer.  Our test seemed to indicate that Zinc is well
protected.  However, we will still be very careful with her.  No new
ferrets.  No ferret shows.  No taking her outside.  Changing shoes when
we get home.  Changing clothes if necessary.  When the titer test shows
that the level of protection is low or borderline, we will probably give
Galaxy D a try.  Keep in mind though that Galaxy D is not approved for
use in ferrets, although I believe it is generally accepted in the ferret
community as being effective (I'm not sure about that).
 
I'm not exactly comfortable with any of the choices available.  You'll have
to do your own research and see what's comfortable for you.  Unfortunately,
risk is involved with all the choices, it's just a matter of what you are
comfortable with.  If you want any more information, feel free to email me
privately.
[Posted in FML issue 3167]