I'm beginning to wonder how many of the vaccine reactions we see are
really reactions *to the vaccine* and how many are caused by the stress of
the ordeal.  I certainly don't think that all reactions are just caused by
stress - and obviously animals that go into anaphylactic shock are probably
reaction to the vaccine - but it certainly seems plausible that the stress
of getting shots could cause nausea, weariness, etc., which seem to be the
more common reactions.
   A couple things to think about in this regard:
   1.  For people with multiple ferrets - do you find that your more
       "laid- back" ferrets are less likely to get reactions than more
       "uptight" ferrets?
   2.  For people who separate distemper and rabies shots by small amounts of
       time (say, 2 weeks) - are ferrets more likely to have reactions on the
       second shot?  Regardless of order?  I would guess most people give
       distemper first, and rabies 2 weeks later, so it may not be possible
       to really look at this - but it might be interesting to switch the
       order one year to see what happens.  Spacing 2 weeks apart may in some
       sense be the WORST thing you could do if your ferret has reactions
       that could be caused (or exacerbated) by stress - the memory of the
       first shot is too clear in their minds when they go back for the
       second one, so they'd spend the whole time at the vet's office being
       nervous.  It might actually be better to just get them over with at
       once, or to space them apart by, say, 6 mos.  A 6-month spacing would
       have the additional benefit of making sure the ferret was examined by
       the vet more often - if you're going in 2x a year, anyway, it makes
       more sense to get examined at 6 month intervals than to go in 2x in
       one month and then not again for a year.
   3.  For people who have moved and changed vets - did your ferret have a
       reaction the first time at the new vets?  Maybe the reason ferrets
       usually don't react on their first vaccine isn't just that allergies
       need to be sensitized, first - but also that the first time, they
       don't know to be scared.  later on, they recognize the vet's office,
       and spend the entire time you're waiting being nervous.  But at a new
       vet's office they wouldn't know to be nervous, so a stress-related
       reaction might not show up.  A true sensitivity one probably would,
       since the injection is still the same...
 
   I'm sure there are a lot of true sensitivity reactions out there - but
I'm really beginning to wonder if a lot of the lesser reactions (vomiting,
weariness, getting all hot from blood going to the extremities, etc.) might
not be caused by the ordeal, rather than the shot...
 
  Any comments?
 
-Rochelle
[Posted in FML issue 1235]