Various people asked about distemper vaccinations, including Bethany:
>All my advice in Australia indicates that due to the fact that ferret
>developed the vaccine they respond very well to it and if they are over
>12 weeks of age need an initial shot one month later and then not another
>one till 12 months time.  Have any of you been told why the 8, 12, 16
>routine, or is it a hang over from cats and dogs.
 
Around here, at least, the recommendation is 8, 12, and 16 weeks, then
annually.  (Some vets recommend 6, 9, 12 and 15 weeks, or other slight
variations; the point is, three or four shots, three or four weeks apart,
with the last one no earlier than 14 weeks.)
 
I have no medical training, and I don't know exactly why the series of
vaccinations is necessary for the antibodies to build up properly, but it
is.  It may be that kits have some residual immunity from their mothers, and
you give them several shots to make sure that they're "eased into" having to
provide the immunity on their own, while accounting for the fact that how
long this maternal immunity lasts will vary from one ferret to the next.
Humans do the same thing, on a somewhat longer schedule; babies get lots of
shots, including various repeats.  (Can you tell I'm not a parent?  :)
 
Adult ferrets who are behind on their distemper shots have no maternal
immunity to worry about, so two shots a month apart is enough to get the
initial immunity up and running, and annual boosters will keep it up.
 
Incidentally, the fact that ferrets are so susceptible to canine distemper
(CDV) is part of why ferret cell cultures are used for some *dog* CDV
vaccines.  However, giving one of those to a ferret will GIVE THE FERRET
DISTEMPER.  CDV vaccines, at least, are made by "training" the virus to one
kind of cell until it's so used to that one that it's weaker when you put it
into another type of animal.  Training it to ferret cells may be fine for
dogs, but it doesn't weaken it at all for ferrets.
 
--
- Pam Greene
Ferret Central <http://www.optics.rochester.edu:8080/users/pgreene/>
            or ftp://ftp.optics.rochester.edu/pub/pgreene/
            or send INDEX FERRET in email to <[log in to unmask]>
[Posted in FML issue 1905]