Lisette wrote:
>I think we do not hear the horrors of not giving distemper shots here
>on the FML because no one would admit to this here.  I understand the
>suffering of the animal is terrible.
 
My personal experience (from being an FHL co-moderator and perhaps from
folks here knowing me) is that when it is encountered it is usually
spoken of privately.  That seems to be less the case with rescues, and
more the case when vaccines have not been provided by the current home.
 
This year there were very few such situations that people wrote to
me about.  In the past the ones who would write to me were usually
families where they were new to ferrets and believed that their kits
had full vaccinations instead of just the first of the kit series.  I
think that the decrease may be due to pet stores and those farms who
supply pet stores making it more obvious to new owners that the first
vaccine is not complete in and of itself; I do know that some chains
and some farms are trying to be more clear about that.  It may also be
that there are fewer CDV outbreaks this year, but I don't know if that
is the case.  Given that I feel like my heart is sinking each time I
get such letters I am glad that there seem to be fewer such cases this
year.  I mean, it's fatal and horribly so, and it's contagious, so the
combo is a horrible thing to have to get someone to consider if they
have already tested and know what it, and even suggesting testing for
it is hard.
 
Anyway, the point is that I think Lisette is right.  When it happens
people tend to not go public.
 
I knew a dog -- a pound rescue -- who had contracted before her vet
appointment the same day as her adoption so the vax she got couldn't
help her.  It was terrible. Just absolutely terrible.  It's not just
that it is painful and fatal and contagious, but since it is a
neurological disease the animal can stop being herself any longer from
brain damage.  That is what happened to that dog.  If you, too, have
known a person who became no longer herself or himself from a fatal,
progressive brain disease which can drive an individual to violence then
you know what I mean.  When I've seen that in two people it was in many
ways as it was with that dog.
 
As Mary so accurately wrote yesterday:
>Then you must not have heard about the lady in NJ that lost over 20
>of her 30 ferrets to Canine Distemper because she did not vaccinate
>correctly and didn't vaccinate some (this was a couple years ago).
>Or the time when a shelter in OH got in two ferrets that had Canine
>Distemper.  I could go on, but I'm sure you get my point.  The stories
>may not be coming to the FML, but they *did* happen.
>
>I agree that a vaccination reaction is scary, but CD is even scarier
>since it's fatal.
 
BTW, I said "cellular membranes" when I should have said intestinal
yesterday.  I have a bit of trouble being reasonably clear (or some
would say being even more unclear ;-) ) when my asthma kicks up as it
has been recently.
 
I fyou are in NJ and have the desire, time, and cash to study to become
as animal cruelty investigator the ASPCA is notifying people of this
course from the Bergen County Police:
 
>The class will meet from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. on the following
>Saturdays: September 18, October 2, 9, 16, 23 & 30, and November 6.
>The tuition cost of $495 can be made payable to Career Development
>Institute, PO Box 5024, Kendall Park, NJ 08824. For more information
>or registration forms, visit CDI online or call (800) 244-6921.
[Posted in FML issue 4618]