>Now these kids have had their vaccines before, although when I got them
>they were missing their paperwork.  They all have obviously survived the
>ordeal.  They are going tomorrow for their vaccinations and wonder how
>much of a risk they are in for a bad reaction.  So here is basically my
>question.  Should I give some benadryl as I have heard others do for
>their ferrets tonight, and how much should I give...or should I just put
>my trust in the vet (who is a good ferret vet) and them (the fur-kids)
>surviving it well the last time (as far as I know anyway)?
>
>Veronica (worried and wanting things to go smoothly)"
 
Hi.  Your vet should, as a matter of protocol with ferrets, administer
Benadryl _themselves_ prior to the vaccines.  If they don't, I personally
wouldn't consider them too ferret-knowledgeable, to be honest.  Check
with your vet before you medicate them yourself; we don't charge extra
for this where I work.  We use 1 cc of the standard oral children's
Benadryl dosage about 15 minutes before we vaccinate; we actually ask
our clients to come in a few minutes early for this purpose, and then by
the time the vet sees them and does their PE, the Benadryl has had time
to get into their system.
 
Two of mine HAVE had reactions in the past, and I will now be doing some
IM (intramuscular) Benadryl before their next vaccines as a precaution
because of the nature of these reactions.  I recommend staying at least
45 min to an hour after vaccines-both of my reaction kids (rabies
reaction, which is less common than distemper reaction) had reactions
AFTER 45 minutes (one at an hour and one at an hour and a half-we would
have been home for the second one if the first hadn't had a reaction!).
These later reactions are generally less serious and life-threatening
than immediate, anaphylactic reactions, but that doesn't mean they
couldn't be worse.  My guys had bloody diarrhea and vomiting.  We tell
all our ferret clients to plan on being in our office for at least an
hour after their vaccines.
 
I also HIGHLY recommend doing distemper and rabies vaccines separately,
so if they DO have a reaction, you know what it's to.  My vets also
recommend this.
 
Incidentally, both my reaction guys had had all their shots before, too,
with no reactions.  There is no rhyme or reason to when they will have a
reaction; your ferrets could go six years with no vaccine reactions, and
then have one at their next vaccine visit.
 
Good luck!
 
-April AC
[Posted in FML issue 4087]