>She didn't believe we needed to pretreat (since she had no reason to
>believe my ferret would react and because she could just as easily be
>allergic to the pretreat) and I was given the last appointment of the day.
>I was concerned about not waiting the half hour afterwards but was told
>someone would be on call if I had a problem.  I felt like my concerns had
>been dismissed, but luckily we had no problems with the vacination.
>
>That was two years ago.  My vet no longer chooses to do distemper
>vacinations.  She has since had ferrets with severe reactions and has
>reversed her position completely.  I don't advocate not doing vacinations
>(she is no longer my vet) but please heed the warnings.  Don't dismiss all
>concerns until one day you possibley find yourself personally experiencing
>the "hyped" topic.
 
Yes, in 19 years we have had 4 who reacted; two of them in our current
family.  There was one day years ago in which Meltdown and Ruffle reacted
simultaneously within minutes of getting their shots while the other
ferrets were getting shots -- just whammo both were unconscious, losing
airway, passing blood.  Both would have died without immediate care and
Meltdown almost died even with it.
 
It's not incredibly common, but it is too common to ignore.  It looks like
the Merial Recombitek vaccine may take to risk way down so it will be good
when that is released for general use.
 
>I have always wondered if it could be possible to protect ferrets with the
>same flu shot used for humans.  The influenza vaccines are inactivated
>vaccines.
 
Actually, many of them are developed using ferrets so it's certainly
possible, but I have not heard of anyone doing it.
 
>I am babysitting a 5 1/2 year old ferret named Worf.  He is a real
>sweatie, but I am getting kind of worried about him.  He is going bald on
>his stomach and a little on his neck, he also is always sleeping.  I
>phoned his vet, and she said that I can wait until his Mommy comes back
>before he goes for a test, but I didn't mention the sleeping part because
>I wasn't sure if it was too important...So I am asking your advice- Is
>there anything bad about sleeping more than 15 hours a day???
 
It might be, esp. if it is a marked change in his behavior.  His owner
and his vet know his history so ask them what they want to do.
[Posted in FML issue 3462]