In response to Kim's post..
 
There is no math to ferret reactions to vaccines.  Although it is rare to
happen the very first time the ferret is vaccinated, it can happen the
second, or third, or forth...... or never.  We have vaccinated all the
kids coming into the shelter.  Most of these have unknown backgrounds or
have never been to the veterinarina before, so they recieve two distemper
vaccines, 2 - 3 weeks apart.  Before opening the shelter, we boostered
my 13.  All this with no reaction.. until Saturday evening....
 
Our Vice President is a C.V.T. (and best friend!) and I have worked at a
vet's office for a good 1.5 years..  We had always discuseed not doing
vaccines if our vet was not open or available.  We offer low cost
vaccinations (Distemper only) for our members.  We let our guard down..
we got comfortable..  we vaccinated one of our member's four ferrets
Saturday night at 6:00 p.m.  No vet offices around were open..  What a
wake up call we got!!!!
 
Within 30 seconds of his vaccine, Bamse Bear was out of it.  His face,
ears, and neck turned red, then purpleish.  His tail was immediatly bottle
brushed and he began to heave, trying to vomit.  His breathing became
extrememly labored.  We already had an emergency kit with dosages etc.
We had pre-treated (always do) with injectable Benedryl.  We gave another
dose of this and waited a few minutes.  As I held him, monitoring his
heart rate, Sue watched for any signs of recovery.  After around 7
minutes, we gave him an injection of a steroid (Dex.) .  His breathing got
slighly less labored and some of the reddness disipated and his tail was
slightly less bristled.  However, he was still extremely lethargic and his
heart rate slightly elevate.  We were deciding rather to give a dose of
Eppinefrin (sp?) or not when he had diarrhea- it was bloddy and liquidy.
That was it- we rushed him to the emergency clinic...
 
Needless to say, after a sleepless night for all involved, Bamse pulled
through.  On the way to the emergency clinic- Sue had tried to put in an
IV- but his veins were collapsing.  We gave him some Sub-Q fluids- which
he did not absorb.
 
I guess the point of my sharing this (sorry so long) experience is that
if you are vaccinating at home- PLEASE do NOT do it alone, always have
emergency medicine and dosages ready, and NEVER let your guard down.  Many
people go through years and years, ferret after ferret, with no reactions.
However, it only takes one reaction to cause death if on so unprepared.
Don't get comfortable like we did.  If the emergency clinic had not been
as close as it was, say another 20 minutes down the road, we would have
lost Bamse.  Oxygen and an IV are what saved him and most of us don't have
an oxygen box at our shelters (LOL).
 
Just be cautious and never get comfortable.  It CAN happen to you and your
fuzzy!
 
Sorry so long...
 
Michelle
[Posted in FML issue 3558]