[2-part post combined. BIG]
Given the latest posts regarding the distemper vaccine, I thought I would
submit a compilation of former emails of mine. I'm thinking it may be
helpful to some trying to make a decision regarding the distemper vaccine.
I went through a lot of stress myself in trying to determine what to do
with my ferret Zinc.
~~~~~
Immediately after Zinc's reaction, I sought help from a variety of vets.
And just before she was due again, I researched it more. It seemed that
every time I made a decision about the course of action to take with her,
I would read something or a vet would bring up a valid point, making me
question my decision. I must have changed decisions at least 8 times.
These seemed to be my options: vaccinate with Fervac, vaccinate with Fervac
and pretreat with Benadryl, vaccinate with Galaxy D, vaccinate with Galaxy D
and pretreat with Benadryl, don't vaccinate, and get a titer test done
for distemper. You'll get a number of different opinions on what to do.
The most common (not in any particular order) are (1) switch to Galaxy D;
(2) pretreat with Benadryl; and (3) don't vaccinate.
Fervac
There is a risk if you do vaccinate with Fervac in the future. There is
no guarantee that your ferret won't react even worse. If your ferret's
reaction was severe, you can be risking your ferret's life by administering
that vaccine again. I have one vet (I have 3) that no longer gives fervac
anymore. My ferret was the vet's first reaction and she's had several
others in the last year. The whole practice holds the opinion that the
vaccine is more life threatening to a ferret than distemper.
Pretreatment
I think I remember reading once on the FML about someone losing a ferret
from a reaction to the vaccination despite being pretreated with Benadryl.
I think what Benadryl ended up doing was just to postpone the reaction. I
believe this is particularly rare, but some vets have confirmed that this
could potentially happen. My thoughts on this were that I'd rather have a
reaction occur at the vet's (where help is readily available) than 8 hours
later at home. But, like I said, I think the potential of that happening
is quite rare.
Galaxy D
Some vets will not administer Galaxy D as an alternative. Some will.
Luckily, I have 2 vets that will. The other vet thinks that Galaxy has
caused more reactions than Fervac. There was some study, I think that
determined just the opposite (check out
http://www.acmeferret.com/info_toc.htm#distemper
Keep in mind though that Galaxy D is not approved for use in ferrets,
although I believe it is generally accepted in the ferret community as
being effective (I'm not sure about that).
No Vaccination
Distemper can be carried in from outside (on your clothes, shoes etc.)
and can live for a while. (I can't remember how long. I asked about the
threat of distemper from the FML. You may want to do a search.) There is
a definite risk if you don't vaccinate As for how rampant distemper is in
your area, ask your vet. My theory is that they probably wouldn't see much
since most people who go to vets would get the vaccines. The pets with
distemper probably never went to a vet in the first place. (I could be
wrong.) Someone else suggested calling your county or local wildlife
organization (dept. of fish and wildlife, park rangers, etc.) If they
don't know, they may be able to steer you in the right direction for
getting that information. There isn't a lot of information out there
regarding the risks of getting distemper. Some believe that the risk of
distemper is relatively low if your pets do not come into contact with
other pets, if your pets are indoor only, and if you don't commonly come
into contact with strange pets (or other animals).
Titer Test
It's a blood test to determine the level of protection your ferret
currently has against distemper. Unfortunately, baseline data is lacking
and there's no guarantee that the results are accurate. It's not a 100%
definitive answer. .
It's very difficult to make such decisions when there is no definitive
answer. All your options will pose a risk to your ferret's life. That's
what I've learned. You'll have to do your own research and see what's
comfortable for you. Unfortunately, risk is involved with all the choices,
it's just a matter of what you are comfortable with. I suggest that you
do a search in the FML archives (there's a link on the ferretcentral.org
page) for "vaccine reaction," "vaccine," "distemper," "rxn," "reaction,"
"fervac." What's nice about the search is that you can put in a part of a
word and it will (if I remember correctly) search for parts of words. It
was really helpful to me.
As for my decision: I have opted for the titer test. I feel mostly
comfortable with my decision and believe it is the least risk. The titer
test came back indicating that Zinc is well protected against distemper.
Dr. Weiss did admit that this test isn't 100% accurate -- that there is
still a risk, but I guess there is also some level of certainty. At least
a ballpark. The thing about these vaccines is that studies haven't been
conducted to determine how long they truly last. It is true that we may be
over-vaccinating. We decided not to do the test on the other ferrets since
they didn't react. They just got the Galaxy D. So, we will get that test
done for Zinc every year until the levels indicate that her levels are low
or borderline. (I think the titer test measures the number of distemper
antibodies present.) Then we'll vaccinate with Galaxy D, no pretreatment.
And we'll always wait an hour. (I'm a little over-protective.)
My opinion is this: if there's going to be a reaction, I'd rather it happen
at the vet's than at home. I'm quite a way from a decent vet. Plus, the
one time I did have an emergency (not my pet), the local vet office that
claims to deal with emergencies was unable to do anything until the vet
got there. By that time, it was too late. And with these reactions timing
is critical. (Although the test seemed to indicate that Zinc is well
protected, we will still be very careful with her. No new ferrets. No
ferret shows. No taking her outside. Changing shoes when we get home.
Changing clothes if necessary. )
It is very difficult to make this decision when there are so many different
opinions out there. We chose to do what we feel comfortable with. You may
not feel comfortable with the course we have chosen to take. I write this
in the hopes that I can provide you with the information I garnered through
my decision-making ordeal. I attempted to make this as unbiased as
possible.
Suzanna Donahue
[Posted in FML issue 3238]
|
