>Well this is OK, but cost of Gistember injection(sorry, I don't know the
>right spell for this disease) which she had in Jan.  and Feb.  costed 72
>doller for one shot.
 
Check with your vet to get a breakdown of the cost-is part of the cost a
checkup?  If I don't ask, I get hit with a single bill of $130 for two
ferrets to get distemper shots; ( $65 each) but the breakdown is $23 for
the shot itself and $42 for the checkup.  If there is a vaccination clinic
in the area (ask at pet stores and ferret clubs), you might be able to save
some money, but you need to make sure they use the right vaccines.
 
>In Japan, a bag of ferret food(1kg - 2 lb)costs 11.7 doller and she
>consumes in a month.
 
That's significantly more expensive than here.  A 5 lb bag of Totally ferret
runs about $13 mail order.  If you are buying food made in the US, the
importing could be adding to the cost.  You may want to look at mixing in a
good quality kitten (baby cat) food made in Japan to cut the cost.  Another
alternative is to buy in larger sizes if available.  If there is a ferret
club (circle) in the area you might even be able to arrange for a bulk
purchase at a discount from a distributor.
 
>A friend of mine who lived in US for a long time told me that you can buy
>injection set at pet shops in US.
 
I'm not sure they have them in pet shops, but they can be had mail order.  I
have not seen the shots sold individually, only in sets of 10 for about
$16-17 for Fervac.  I have not seen pricing on Imrab-3, it is prohibited to
ship it to many states.  But the vaccination clinic I went to had different
pricing for ferret rabies and distemper; the rabies shots were $8 and
distemper were $12.50, so if you could get it, the rabies would probably be
less than the distemper.  If Imrab 3 is not available in your area, use a
KILLED ("inactivated" might be on the label) (not modified live) vaccine of
murine (mouse) origin.  If Fervac is not available, use a modified live
canine (dog) distemper vaccine of chick embryo tissue culture.
 
If you go the self vaccination route, have someone show you how to do the
shots, and administer them when the vets office is open in case a reaction
occurs.
 
Keep writing, I love to hear from the folks in other countries! :-)
 
-Ilena Ayala
[Posted in FML issue 2256]