Yes, last Spring and Summer I guess I wound up hearing of something
over a half dozen households with ferrets who had distemper.  A person
stops counting at some point.  At least one didn't know ferrets needed
vaccines; at least one didn't know kits need a series of vaccines rather
than just what they had before reaching the pet stores; at least one had
been made afraid of vaccines from reading things without bearing on
ferrets from rumors or from others' voiced concerns.  One had a lot of
ferrets.  Most had 3 to 5.  If memory serves only one of those households
had any ferrets who had been vaccinated so except for that home all of
the ferrets were lost.
 
Monster was lucky in a way because the symptoms can be truly terrible
so at least he escaped some of the horror, but such a very sad and
unnecessary loss of life if he'd only been vaccinated... Poor little guy.
Everyone who cared for him must be heartbroken.  Losses like his are why
the vaccination fears of "what if" which have no proven foundation for
any of the ferrets' vaccines scare those who know what the result of not
vaccinating can bring.  So sad to think of a little 6 month old for whom
life should have been just starting instead dying...
 
At least perhaps his death may cause others to better understand the
importance of vaccinating, so Monster may just have helped save the lives
of many ferrets.  Sometimes there can be some comfort in that.  Some of
life's lessons just do get learned the hard way.  We have all been there
and each of us will be there again fro some other lessons.  I hope that
little Monster's people don't torture themselves over this, but instead
use what they have learned to help save other ferrets.  Maybe others
could, too.  Wherever you are in Monster's memory remind your local pet
stores that kits need a series of canine distemper vaccines and that a
rabies vaccine comes later, and remind them to let those acquiring
ferrets know this; carry a memo in your newsletter; mention it when folks
ask about your ferrets during a walk.  Let Monster's memory save a number
of ferrets this year.  The only ferrets who should not be vaccinated are
those with a history of serious (not minor) vaccine reactions, or one who
is dealing with some serious illnesses and meds (like ferrets on chemo).
[Posted in FML issue 4109]