That is really too bad that the Galaxy testing rumor was false.  Your
contact with the maker was after I heard the rumor.  Sighing...
 
Thank you SO very much for that abstract, Mary.  I'd never seen that one.
 
I sure wish they would do the testing needed by Galaxy to be USDA
accepted.  We've had two (three?) over the last 25 years who reacted
(anaphylactic reactions) to Galaxy but we still use that and Purevax
(which is not always available).  There is nothing to take the place
of rigorous testing to know for sure.
 
Most ferrets who have an anaphylactic reaction survive, BTW, though not
all do, even with the right help fast.  One excellent vet I know last
year had the second death of a ferret with anaphylactic shock in her
entire career; I think that she is a bit younger than I am -- maybe in
her early 40s which would make her about 15 years younger.  One of the
largest causes of not making it is too much time between reaction onset
and the giving of Epinephrine.  That is the same thing that is at the
root of most of the human deaths from anaphylactic shock (and also why a
number of school systems are being sued by parents to allow the teachers
to learn to use and carry children's epi since nurses are not always
present and sometimes the nurses station is locked).  I am a big one for
not believing in people giving their own vaccines, mostly for because of
the delay it adds before several aspects of treatment can be given.
 
When we first had ferrets we gave a dog CDV vaccine (pre-Fromm) at first
that did not involve ferret cultures but had been tested on ferrets for
effectiveness and safety before the dog trials.  In a way it is shame
that there are not still avianized CDV vaccines (Right now influenza vax
are the only ones that are grown in eggs according to a piece about a
year ago on moving away from that for flu vax, too.) The CDV vax grown
in eggs had a higher reaction rate per shot BUT several of them lasted
for years (There is info on this in the Fox vet texts.) so the overall
vaccine exposures were lower than for current vaccines which have never
been tested for actual length of effectiveness beyond a year even for
the ones that have been tested.
 
-- Sukie (not a vet)
Ferret Health List co-moderator
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives fan
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
International Ferret Congress advisor
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5116]