Re:  Issue 842  6 way canine vaccines
 
I would just like to caution anyone about using canine vaccines with multiple
viruses in them on ferrets.  I WOULD ADVISE AGAINST IT.  It is true that you
can get away with a lot in these guys, but we have (and others have) also
seen  canine distemper being CAUSED by using inappropriate vaccines.  The
multiple canine vaccine products are not chick embryo origin, which is the
only kind that is approved for safe use in the ferret.  Also the "green
virus" has NOT been proven to be the same parvo virus or even that it is a
parvo virus that is seen in dogs.  Just because some ferrets were vaccinated
with the 6 way vaccines and they never got it doesn't mean it is protecting
them.  The ferret population that develops the "green diarrhea" is very tiny
compared to the whole population numbers.  Mine, nor any ferret in my
practice, have not been vaccinated with the 6 way vaccine and they have not
gotten it either, because they have probably not been exposed.  I think that
it is dangerous to introduce into an animal's immune system a bunch of live
viruses (and that is what is in vaccines) that they don't need and have to
spend time cleaning up and getting rid of.  I see so much lymphoma in ferrets
in my area, which suppresses their immune systems, (and they act outwardly
perfectly normal for months to years) that if they were exposed to these
multivalent vaccines, they could easily break with a nasty disease.
 
Bottom line....vaccinate them for ONLY WHAT THEY NEED...over kill is not
necessarily good.  They only need canine distemper (FERVAC-D or FROMM D are
the only safe ones to use) and rabies (IMRAB is the only approved one to
use).
 
P.S.  There is a flourescent green diarrhea that is caused by a rotavirus
that is usually harmless and runs its course in 3-7 days with just good
supportive care.  Antibiotics are generally not necessary and it will run
through a whole ferretry within a few days.  This is different than the
dreaded reoccuring green/orange/brown diarrhea, wasting disease seen on the
East coast in the last two years of which we do not know a cause.
 
Dr. Susan A. Brown
 
[Posted in FML issue 0845]