Hi all,
 
I was going through my Jeffers catalog the other day because I will be
ordering vaccines for my dogs and cats.  I went to look in the ferret
section and saw that they were selling Fervac-D vaccine.  My questions
are, does anyone on here vaccinate their own ferrets?  And what has been
your experience with vaccinating at home?  Where do you order your
vaccines from?  I know there is a risk of the ferret having a reaction but
thought I'd put these questions out there.  I also realize that the rabies
vaccine would still have to be administered by a veterinarian.  (The same
goes for my dogs and cats.)
 
And if risk of a reaction is so great, one could crate up the ferrets...
drive to the vet, sit in the car, vaccinate everyone and wait out the
usual 45-60 minutes.
 
I noticed that the Fervac-D in the Jeffers catalog only came in a box of
10 (1ds vials) ($17.15).  For those that have new kits this would still
be a great buy because you would use up most of the box of 10 (for two
or more ferts, anyway).  And compared to the $25 per vaccination I've
seen...this is still a great buy for yearly vaccinations.
 
Any thoughts welcome on the pros vs cons of vaccinating a fert yourself.
I happen to like the vaccinate-in-front-of-vets office idea. :-)  Email me
privately if it would be more appropriate.
 
I realize that vets do not particularly like the idea of people
vaccinating their animals themselves.  Whether that is because of safety
or is because of it cutting into their money, I can't be sure.  But when
you get into greater numbers of animals vs the one or two cats per year
(or ferts), vaccinating at home is really beneficial for the pocketbook.
And the animals still get yearly checkups because the rabies vaccination
is still needed.  Just a thought, and a few questions.  Thanks all.
 
-Melina & Crew
[Posted in FML issue 3713]