[posted in 2 parts... combined here]
 
It is important to always remember that ferrets are not dogs, nor are
they cats.
 
We ALL know this.  Which of us has not helped teach a veterinarian who
is new to ferrets by sharing information on the reality that adrenal
disease in ferrets tends to be -- not Cushingoid -- but instead of a
hyperhormonal version, usually hyperestrogenic?  Which of us has not
taught others that urinary blockages in ferrets -- which can more rarely
have stones as a cause -- are usually created by the swelling of the
prostate secondary to adrenal disease?  Which of us has not needed to
pass on information that ferrets tend to be very resistant to most of the
side effects of Pred, to the point where a number of side effects common
in other mammals don't show up in them?  Who among us has not startled
people who are used to the pancreas being a difficult organ for surgery
with the news that in ferrets it far more amenable?
 
What holds true for one species does not necessarily hold for ferrets.
 
Case in point 1: During the quest to have an acceptable rabies vaccine
several vaccines were tested for effectiveness.  Some did work or had
side effects which hurt ferrets.  One only worked for 6 months.  This is
a vaccine which worked for at least a year in the other animals which
use it, and it did work in ferrets -- but only for 6 months.  Remember,
unless testing is done -- or in the case of vaccines in ferrets *until*
testing is done -- we do NOT know how long a vaccine may provide
protection beyond a year.  It could be a year; it could be a month.
 
Case in point 2: The titer levels needed for protection are NOT known
well enough to be reliable in ferrets.  That is very important to
recognize because saying "the titer levels look high" is NOT the same
as knowing that those titer levels are actually high enough to afford
protection.
 
Case in point 3: Ferrets who have vaccines in past years instead of
within a year may not be well enough protected.  We had such a situation
in our area a great many years ago.  The vet I knew who handled these
cases wound up in charge of some older ferrets who had been vaccinated in
previous years.  I do not know if that was 2 years before or 3, nor do I
know if this information was ever clearly communicated nor if the owner
knew for sure.  That household had had some younger ferrets who never
received vaccinations; all of those unvaccinated ones had already died
of canine distemper.  The reason the owner skipped vaccines is because
someone caused her to become totally panicked by the idea of vaccine
reactions even though she had not herself encountered any.  That person
then told her that there was a holistic alternative "vaccine".  As you
guessed, it proved worthless.  The surviving ferrets who had been
vaccinated in previous years all had poor health, reduced longevity,
impaired quality of life, and brain damage even though they had enough
protection to survive -- just not enough protection to be without damage.
I hope that the person who frightened her was merely ignorant because
she/he was partly responsible for terrible results of handicaps of
those with outdated vaccines and a horrifying, long and painful death
for those who never received their vaccinations.
 
Ferrets and vaccines can be expected to sometimes have considerations
which come up as surprises at some point during use, some of which pan
out as real on actual testing and some of which turn out to be false
alarms.  That is always going to be a reality for any medication, just
as there will always be a need to test carefully while also taking
precautions before outright accepting or rejecting any reports which so
far lack reasonable testing.  Anaphylactic reactions are among the proven
rare considerations people must consider, take precautions for, and make
sure that their vets are prepared to handle.  Otherwise, death can occur.
 
That in itself should be no surprise.  Just look at raisins and grapes
and the cases of sudden kidney problems, a number of them fatal for a
dogs and a few for ferrets when too many of these treats were given.
People had been giving these as treats for decades before this pattern
either arose or was noticed.  Surprises -- good or bad, true or false
after being tested well enough to actually know, rare or common -- are
not in the least unusual, just startling, so surprises are to be
expected; it is typically merely the nature of them which startles.
 
In ferrets one consideration which is real is the risk of anaphylactic
reactions but the RATE is much LOWER than those who keep repeatedly drum
beating or recounting the same cases would make it appear, nor are the
risks ferrets face from the diseases, canine distemper and rabies, and
the human responses to those diseases to be glossed over without doing
disservice to others.
 
Although the rate is low (except when a bad batch in encountered due at
times to poor storage or handling at some point) reactions do happen --
just not at the level it sometimes sounds like, esp. in a forum with
probably over 15,000 ferrets represented.  Everyone here will have
read of the precautions such as not giving both the canine distemper
and rabies shots at the same time, premedicating as per your vet's
instructions, and being sure that your vet knows how to medicate for
anaphylactic reactions -- esp.  that epi is the most essential of meds
for this type of reaction.  With proper and immediate treatment death and
lingering damage from thosew few who have these reactions are extremely
rare but can happen.  (I have read of something like 3 such deaths in
about 18 years on-line.) (BTW, even among human emergency room personnel
the importance of epinephrin as the primary medication turned out -- in a
large study of many human hospitals -- to be woefully unknown.  In that
study about a 1/3 of the emergency rooms did not respond properly to
anaphylactic reactions in humans even though how to do so has been known
for a very long time.)
 
Remember that a ferret who has not had a rabies vaccine within a year
can be killed for testing if there is a biting incident (or if the
bitten/nipped person or guardian insists on it in some states) whereas
those having had the rabies shot within a year qualify for a brief
period of observation instead of death.
 
Remember that both rabies and canine distemper are horrible diseases,
living tortures often enough, and each can alter *who* the individual
is through brain damage.  Remember, too, that they are virtually always
fatal.
 
There are some ferrets who should not be vaccinated.  They have special
health considerations such as past serious reactions, or impaired immune
systems due to some types of disease or medications.  When there are
such individuals present it pays to use precautions whenever possible
such as not being in places where canine distemper is likely and
cleansing careful if there is any possible exposure before handling
ferrets, including getting shoes out of reach and changing and
laundering clothing.
 
The ultimate experts on ferret health are going to be expert ferret vets.
Use them and listen to them.
[Posted in FML issue 4637]