I don't mind coming "out of the closet". We are a shelter, with 4 other
locations in VA.- Where I live, Richmond, VA., rabies vacs are required
by law since 2005. I DO vaccinate adoption ferrets- but the old guys,
who I know will never be adopted and will be here forever- Nope, I
don't vaccinate them. Distemper bothers me more (never know who might
visit our shelter after visiting a local animal shelter, where they
might have cuddled a puppy with distemper) and our vet has gone to
vaccinating for distemper ferrets every 2 years now, with the DIMS
issue. I know in Waynesboro, our adoptions /foster coordinator works
for a vet where they are vaccinating cats every 2 years, instead of
yearly. We've had 2 ferrets in the past 10 months with confirmed Fibro
Sarcoma tumors at injections sites. Both are/were under the age of 4
yrs old- One sadly passed away after the tumor was removed - he had
other issues as well. He was 3 years old. The other ferret is 2-3 years
old- too early yet to see what happens- his tumor (huge, gross, nasty)
was just removed 3 weeks ago. He's so HAPPY now! He came in from
Henrico Animal Control- they said, "Come get him, he has a sore on his
shoulder. Sore my ass. It was the biggest tumor I've seen in 11 years
of sheltering. As for pre-dosing with benadryl, we hadn't seen any
reactions with the rabies- until Jan. '09. Honestly, I believe we've
been "over vaccinating" our ferrets for years.
Just not enough studies, and God knows how many have died from
vaccines. There are still too many people out there who consider
ferrets "throw away pets, so they just go "Ooops, must have been a sick
ferret when I got him/her.". If you show your ferret, you are required
to vaccinate. The one distemper we never had any problems with was by
Galaxy- and the AFA doesn't allow a ferret vaccinated with the Galaxy
rabies to show?? I stopped going to any shows in 2002- but I have
some great adopters who want to give it a go- we might shoot for the
York, PA. show. Just depends on the vaccine issue. I'll be damned if
I see a ferret die just because of a ferret show.
My 2 cents,
Marlene Blackburn
Director
RFRL
Richmond,VA.
[Posted in FML 6365]
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