Many of you may remember that last month on October 18 I lost Kit, our
2nd ferret.  I wrote the FML describing her 2 1/2 week battle with what
seemed to be a spinal injury/possible West Nile Virus.  I took her, at
the behest of my veterinarian to ADDL at Purdue.  The following is what
transpired.  I shall try to make this as brief and concise as possible.
 
Kit was presented to ADDL on the 19th, and on Tuesday, 10/22/02 my
veterinarian phoned me, said I would not believe what she tested positive
for.  It was canine distemper.  No one outside my family will ever
understand the absolute panic attack that took me, the fear.  I had
followed the vet I used in Lafayette's practice of vaccinating every 2-3
years, he thought this alleviated reactions.  And now we're being told
she had canine distemper.  My vet tried to pin this man down as to what
kind of test he used, could it possibly have been a reaction to tissue
still with the vaccine in it, etc.  This vet could not answer my vet,
said he'd find out, never returned his call.  My vet phoned there several
times and never got a return call or an answer.  We went ahead and
vaccinated all the ferrets, as we sat down and discussed that she showed
absolutely no signs of distemper.  Only those that are closest to me,
and were in contact with me during this waiting period know exactly what
I went through.  I phoned Dr. Bruce Williams and we spoke, he told me
that he believed it to be a misdiagnosis, as did my vet, my husband and
myself.  But every day my kids were inspected for runny eyes and noses,
diarrhea, hard pads, loss of appetite.  Last week we received the
necropsy examination and it pointed to lymphosarcoma.  I sent the report
to Dr. Williams and he said wait till the final report came.  I received
this report today.  Here is the comment on diagnosis:
 
The neoplasm in the ferret was malignant.  No lesions supporting the
reported hind limb lameness were observed in the spinal cord.  The
possibility of trauma can not be ruled out.  In the absence of any
lesions compatible with canine distemper, the significance of positive
canine distemper FA test is of little importance.  Kit had lymphoma in
the spleen, liver, kidney, and adrenal gland.  The spleen was the likely
primary site of the neoplasm that metastasized to liver, kidney and
adrenal gland.
 
Folks-when I first received this all I could think was I didn't cause her
death by not vaccinating every year.  NEVER again will I allow my ferrets
to go more than a year without a distemper vaccination.  When we did our
vaccinations I had one reaction.  Conan vomited 2 hours after the shot,
and therefore it wasn't a bad reaction.  All were pre-treated with
Benadryl.  I cannot stress to any of you-do not allow your ferrets to go
unvaccinated.  This scare for me was the final straw.  I also am in the
process of writing to the head of ADDL at Purdue, and the dean of the vet
school, for what this vet did when he called.  If he had said: I don't
want to alarm you, but a test we ran on tissue shows possible positive
canine distemper and we want to alert you to this--yes, I'd have been
upset, but not possibly to the point I was.  To be flat told this ferret
has distemper caused such shock and duress.  My veterinarian was also
appalled at this, stating this was quite unprofessional to call like
this, and then to not return calls.  I pray that no one goes through what
we just did here.  As the days passed and we had no other ill ones, we
began to breathe easier, and when my vet came to vaccinate all the kids,
each got a thorough exam from him.  He told me it was a joy to see happy,
healthy ferrets with great cages and bedding, fresh food and water plus
lots of running area.  We were both quite certain that they were not
infected with anything, and we have been proven correct, but it was at
the cost of severe self doubt on both the vet and myself, as he kept
thinking he couldn't have missed this.  The emergency vet who assisted
Kit to the bridge also said it was not distemper.
 
Hug your fur kids tight, and keep them vaccinated.
 
Rebecca & the Crew of  Merry Mayhem
"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy, and
 taste good with ketchup"
"Support bacteria, it's the only culture some people have"
[Posted in FML issue 3967]