Hello, fellow fuzzy lovers! It's been awhile since I've been able to read or post to the list, but with the wedding, honeymoon and ferret show that all happened in two weeks in August, I'm finally catching up with life. I wanted to reply to the anonymous poster (J.) about the distemper reaction questions. Yes, it's quite possible for the reactions to be fatal. And all of the symptoms, including bloody diarrhea are consistent with a severe reaction. Personally, I've never heard of treating afterwards with antibiotics, but theoretically, the ferret could be more susceptible to opportunist infections, I guess. As a breeder who gives my own distemper vaccinations, I've been very lucky, with only one severe reaction. But, I would never give vaccine without having benadryl, epinephrine, lactated ringers, and an emergency vet number on hand. Epinephrine is the one medication I didn't see mentioned. I believe most vets administer it to a dog or cat that has a reaction, as well. When my Gus reacted in July, I hit him with it all, about 2 cc of epinephrine sub-q, 2 cc of benadryl orally and about 20 cc of lactated ringers given over 20 minutes in 3 cc doses sub-q. He seemed to come out of the reaction in about 30 minutes, although he was one tired pup for the next 6 hours (both benadryl and epinephrine cause that). We monitered him for carefully for the next day, but he seemed to have no lasting effects. It was a very scary time, though. As far as vaccinating for distemper in the future. I have read enough to believe that the possibility of catching and dying from distemper is too serious a threat to outweigh a reaction. You can walk through a puddle and pick this up on your shoes or clothes, and bring it into your home. Ferrets are very susceptible to it, and as you've read, it is very fatal. To minimize reaction there are several things you can do. Pretreating with benadryl orally is a good idea. Staying at the vets office for at least an hour with a previous reaction. Instead of using Fervac-D, try Galaxy-D, an alternative vaccine. Although it's not been approved by the USDA, alot of people feel it's just as effective, and have had fewer reactions with it. I've also read that injecting the vaccine into the hind-quarters elicits fewer reactions than shoulder injections. But, next year, Gus will be getting his distemper vaccine. It will be in the vets office, next time, but it will happen. Well, I hope everyone, human and furry alike are doing well. Sherry and her Merry Mob [Posted in FML issue 3166]