>Our vet took part in the study of the vaccine and of the hundreds of
>ferrets that received it - including many who had reacted badly to the
>others - only one had a bad reaction. He belonged to my best ferret buddy,
>and she almost lost him. He lost the use of his hind limbs for a couple
>of weeks, but finally recovered, and has a slight residual weakness, but
>is otherwise OK. And one ferret in hundreds is a vast improvement over
>the previous vaccine - of Barb's and my 12 ferrets, four had had negative
>reactions (including the one who reacted to the Merial). She waited until
>every other ferret in the study had been injected with no reaction before
>trying it. I definitely give the Merial vaccine my blessings, but I would
>continue to premedicate with 1.0 - 1.2 mL Children's Bubble Gum flavored
>Benadryl 30 minutes to 1 hour before hand. And by the way, the Merial
>people could not have been more supportive the whole time.
YES! We are so very much looking forward to having this option, and are
happy that the release date is apparently soon. From the extensive testing
done it seems that the Merial Recombitek vaccine will provide a vast
improvement for ferrets.
It is also the only reliable safe CD vaccine for a number of wild and zoo
animals, and as such will protect them in breeding programs, reinstatement
programs, and in the wild when epizooics occur and can be stemmed. Merial
did something very special in developing this!
>Where does one acqure the ADV tests that can be taken at home? What is
>the cost?
>
>Sharonkay
The info you need is at:
http://www.avecon.com/AveconADV.htm
>All the ferrets are doing great but have a question about our old Lady,
>Flower. She is nearly eight now, eat good, pees and poops good. The
>problem is her tummy. It has gotten very large and feels like it is full
>of air, very soft to the touch and I feel nothing like a growth inside.
>She sleeps a lot now but figure it is her age. When we first got her
>nearly seven years ago her tummy was big and the vet put her on antibiotics
>for a infection in the tummy. It didn't work this time. She took a whole
>bottle and didn't do anything. She doesn't seem to be in any pain and we
>won't allow her to be in any pain. ...
Do you mean that it is like a loose water balloon? If so you need to learn
about things that can cause ascites. Heart disease, esp. cardiomyopathy
(usually dilative (= hyperplastic) cardiomyopathy in ferrets though they
can get the harder to diagnose hypertrophic) is the most common cause,
but liver or kidney disease, and other things can also cause it.
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc
is a great place to learn heart info and hwo to treat hear diseases (and
much more).
If you mean that the ferret is attaining a pear shape with a lot of
abdominal fat that can be caused by many things from old age to adrenal
disease.
Obviously, time with a ferret knowledgeable vet is needed, possibly a
chest x-ray and possibly an ultrasound. At her age I am sure that you
are regularly having blood work done.
Once again, I am not a vet but do have an extensive background with ferrets
for 19 years.
[Posted in FML issue 3475]
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