Well, I took my guys in to be vaccinated today, and Randall reacted to his
vaccination.  Both he and Rocko are about 1 yr old, and both got Fervac and
Imrab-3.  Neither reacted before to their vaccinations.  Randall began
throwing up while I was watching him in the waiting room, and we rushed him
in back.  He was given injections of a steroid and Benadryl, plus
subcutaneous fluids.  We went home after the doctor was sure he was OK, and
he seemed fairly normal.  Quite the scary experience, though I was confident
she could handle the situation (thank you, Dr. Wilkinson of Midwest Bird &
Exotic Animal Hospital, Westchester, IL).
 
BTW, she thinks that Spunky (who is probably from a Madison-area breeder
because of the shortage of MF kits lately) may not have been descented.  She
couldn't feel any testicles, but thought she felt the anal glands.  Nice to
know I should watch out for potential problems there - or potential
spraying. :)  If they are intact, I'll let them stay there.
 
I've been watching the tempers fly over the ECE debate, plus attitudes,
choice of words, etc.  I think Bill had a point in noting the limitations of
the medium - we can't discern tone of voice or facial expressions.  Also,
E-mail is so easy to type quickly and send into the ether before we fully
comprehend exactly what we said and how others might see it.  Finally, we
are all from different backgrounds and experiences.  We see the world
differently, and express ourselves in unique ways.  We won't ever all agree
completely (good thing, or how would we progress?), but please, let's not
tear each other apart over this.  Yes, ECE and other topics are very
important, and thus create a lot of tension and arguments.  But let's not
forget that we all need each other - we need to be united for legalization,
protection of our rights as pet owners, investigation of new diseases, and
so on.  On some things, we'll just have to agree to disagree.  Who knows
what will happen with ECE - will it be like chicken pox (get it when young,
or you'll be sure to get it when older, and it'll be bad)? [OK, not quite
the perfect comparison, but you get the idea.]  Will a vaccine be developed
(yes, one is now available for chicken pox) and be given along with the ones
for rabies and canine distemper?  We don't know how long we'll have to fear
this.  I do know that we'll need to work together, on this and other areas.
Please, if everyone who wants to lash out about something could just hold
off on making that post for a day, it could give time for tempers to cool
down.  We all get stressed when those we love (ferret, human, or otherwise)
are suffering or have suffered - please realize the motivation behind harsh
words.
 
Not too eager to read the FML for the next few days or so - Denise,
plus Rocko, Randall (recovering), and Spunky
 
--
/\\    ____  ,^-o, Denise Voskuil - [log in to unmask]
  ``-,'    `-';~~     Brain: "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
    .',-'~`../        Pinky: "I think so, Brain, but if we didn't have
     `^^    `^^         ears we'd look like weasels." ("Animaniacs")
"Ferrets are kittens with leather jackets and no fear!" - John Reed
[Posted in FML issue 1248]