Hi all:
 
I just wanted to stress the importance of staying at the vet's office at
least 20 minutes after your ferret(s) receive any type of vaccination.  I
brought my two little girls, Sam & Pichu, to the vet on Friday to receive
their last set of distemper shots.  About 10 minutes after receiving the
shot, I was walking around the pet store where the vet is located (I wanted
to hang around for 20 minutes just in case of a reaction) when I noticed my
little Pichu gagging and vomiting.  I took her out of the carrier and her
mouth was open a little, and even looked to be a funny color, almost blue.
I brought her back to the vet's office, and the doctor gave her two shots,
one steroid shot and the other an antihistamine, I believe.  When he
brought her back out, she just laid in my arms like a limp doll (and all
you ferret owners out there know how ferrets like to squirm around!).  It
brought tears to my eyes!
 
She was limp for 10-15 minutes, and she was just staring into space,
totally zoned out.  I know when her eyes are "alert" and they were
definitely not.  I said a prayer, and suddenly, she picked up her head a
little and started to move just a bit (I believe in the power of prayer!).
Thank goodness my good friend was with me, or I would've been a mess all
by myself.  We must've stayed there for an hour, just waiting for Pichu
to return to normal.  He checked her heartbeat and said she seemed fine.
The vet said it would just take a little while for her to recover, and
even gave me his home number to call him in case she wasn't better in a
few hours.
 
I put Pichu on the floor to see if she could walk and noticed she had a
hard time holding herself up.  I could feel her arms and legs pushing
against my hand when I picked her up, but when I put her down it was like
her muscles were weak.  We brought her back to the car (air-conditioned,
of course) and put her on the carpeted floor of the car, so her feet would
have more traction than on the tiled floor at the vet's office.  We stayed
there for another 20 minutes or so until she was able to move around some
more.
 
We got home around 7:30 p.m., and kept a close eye on her.  She started
walking more normally after about an hour.  She seemed to be wired and
hyper, and she wouldn't go to sleep.  It was 1 a.m. before she finally
went to sleep.  The next morning she was back to normal. :)
 
So, the moral of the story is (whether you're a first-time ferret owner
or not) to always stick around the vet's office for at least 20 minutes!
I've read this piece of advice everywhere and I'm glad I stuck to it.  My
two little girls were completely fine when I brought them in for their
rabies and 1st distemper shot a few weeks ago.  But for some reason Pichu
had a reaction this time.  And please make sure you, and your family
members, know where your local emergency vet clinic is.
 
Dooks to all,
Gladys, Sam & Pichu
[Posted in FML issue 3467]