I just called the vet's office today. Didn't speak to a vet, but the
assistant said that the Dept. of Health here in Texas has had an unusually
high number of positive testings for rabies. So, the vets are required to
vaccinate all dogs, cats and ferrets (those are the ones I asked about) over
the age of three months for rabies before they leave the clinic. That's
provided, of course, they haven't already been vaccinated. Anyway, the lady
I talked to stressed the importance of vaccinations even if you don't think
the animal could possibly come in contact with rabies. She also said (and I
hadn't heard this before) that ALL dogs, ALL cats, and ALL ferrets are
REQUIRED to have their rabies shots in Texas ANYway. This quarantine rule
just holds the vet partially liable if they haven't been. Even though I
don't think my kids could get rabies, I still have them vaccinated, just in
case. Also, it's been noted here that another good reason is in case your
ferret bites someone, the victim is  less likely to report the incident if
your kit is up to date on shots. I just think there are more reasons TO get
it done than NOT to get it done (except in the case of... I can't remember
his/her name, but the ferret that has a reaction to the vaccine).
 
happy ferreting and have your pets SHOT! Wait... no that's not right...
 
ahn
[Posted in FML issue 1177]