Tracy wrote:
>I have heard SOOOO much in the past week about Marshall Farms and their
>"mill" of bad offspring, and I have also heard sooo much this week about
>how the distemper vaccination can be so deadly and the importance of
>pre-med Benadryl and staying with the vet for an additional 20-60 minutes
>to watch for reactions.
>
>I JUST WANT TO SAY:
>I have two new MF ferrets, never a complaint from me.
>
>I also took them in for rabies and distemper last night and had no pre-med
>and did not stay extra time as recommended by my vet.  Now I worried the
>ENTIRE time I was at the vet and was awake every 2 hours that night,
>watching my babies.  I think you guys made this such a hype and I wanted
>to give you my input.  I had a WONDERFUL experience.
>
>Thank you for letting me speak.
 
Tracy, a bit more information could have been useful for you.  Reactions
almost always happen within several hours of a shot, and most happen witin
minutes.  If you stay at the vet's for a half hour to 45 minutes afterward
the chances of then encountering a reaction are very slim.  Once they get
prompt vet care for a reaction the ferrets almost never die (though without
that they most likely will).  I think that if you had known this time frame
you could have let yourself sleep better.  The reactions are allergic
reactions so they do NOT cause problems long after the fact, though there
have been those who have uysed thenm as scapegoats for non-related problems
until they learned a bit more about the nature of the reactions.  Many
don't realize that what is being discussed is a bad allergic reaction like
some people have to bee stings.  It is a very serious problem which is
terrrible to go through and if is not treated usally fatal.  If treated
promptly the feret will be a bit depressed for a half day to a bit over a
day and that's it.  We have encountered it in 4 here through the years.
You should stay and you should pretreat, but yuo don't have to stay up all
night, though watching for a couple of hours afterward isn't unreasonable.
Moderation in actions...
 
We also have MFs in our mix, and in 19 years with ferrets the MFs have not
been different than the majority from any breeders.  Are there things that
I would lik eto see improved at MF?  Yes.  That also holds for the pther
large breeders, though some improvements may vary in type among them.  The
worst are the backyard breeders (whoa re like puppy mills for ferrets), and
the best are responsible private breeders.  Farms fall somwhere in between.
 
When people exaggerate OF COURSE they have reduced effects on the majority
of people; they also have reduced abilities to get beneficial changes.
[Posted in FML issue 3457]