>When I discussed this with them, reminding them how converned they
>were about this situation the day before, they claimed canine distemper
>vaccine works immediately and, further, it has retroactive abilities,
>for the day before.  Is this true?
 
What, now vaccines go back in time?  I'm no vet, but this is
preposterous.  If the CD virus has recently taken hold in an animal, the
vaccine is going to do nothing but make matters worse.  Most vaccines
are, after all, killed varieties of the SAME virus.  Their purpose is to
train the body to fight the LIVE virus by itself - vaccines do not attack
the disease directly.  If the body is already trying to fight off the
live virus anyway, how is the vaccines going to help at all?
 
On the other hand, what they MAY have meant is that if Linus was
previously vaccinated, it's not necessary to give the booster one year
to the day.  You have some room for slop there, so a day or two off,
even a week or two off, doesn't matter.  The truth is, we really don't
*know* how long the CD vax is effective in ferrets - one shot could be
good for three years for all we know.  The yearly shot is recommended
simply because that's what other species typically need.
 
But, there are two other things you want to consider here.  First, they
offered to vaccinate immediately and watch for reactions.  They did not
do that.  That's a clear violation of your trust.  Perhaps they were
busy - perhaps there was a very good reason they could not get to it.
If so, they should have come right out and apologized about it instead
of getting defensive.
 
Second, and more important, it was completely irresponsible of them to
suggest the vax so soon after surgery.  Vaccines place a lot of stress
on the body - they make the immune system work pretty hard for a while.
We routinely hear of CD vax reactions, and some of mine show flu-like
symptoms for a couple of days after a shot.  (A different, but not
dangerous, kind of reaction.)  And you want to do this while Linus is
recovering from a stressful surgery?  I don't think so.  You really
should wait a MINIMUM of three weeks after surgery before giving
vaccines, unless there is some urgent reason you have to do it
immediately.  Let the body heal before you subject it to more stress.
Understand I'm not flaming you Minta - you didn't know better - but that
vet tech SHOULD know better and should not have even suggested this.
 
And now the disclaimer. <sigh>  I'm not picking on vets.  I myself have
a wonderful vet who understands these things.  I'm picking on THIS
PARTICULAR vet tech.  Irresponsible medical professionals in ANY field
make life more difficult for us all.
 
roger & the fuzzies
missing bear
[Posted in FML issue 4023]