Hello everyone! I apologize if this topic has been discussed lately. I've been away and have not read the FML for a couple of weeks. I'm writing for advice on shots. It's time for two of my babies' (Rocket and Mykah) annual rabies and distemper shots. I adopted these fuzzies last September so we've only gone through one period of shots. Now we're due for the annuals, and I'm worried about Rocket. I believe what happened last year was after his last distemper shot of the series. I brought both fuzzies in together and all was going well. We were there for at least 30 minutes after the shots were given, no problems whatsoever. We were given the "ok" to leave. After getting back home, things were fine initially and the ferrets were roaming around as usual. At that point I didn't notice anything wrong. About an hour after we had left the vet, my boyfriend called me into the living room because Rocket had started vomiting. I can't remember exactly, but I think he may have vomited liquid and possibly some food. I immediately called the vet's emergency number (they had closed by this time) and rushed back there to meet the doctor. On the way I noticed Rock go from heaving motions to being completely limp. He was so lethargic it was almost like he had passed out in his carrier! When we got there, Dr. Wolf gave Rocket a shot of Benadryl. On the table he just looked completely wiped out and ended up eliminating very bloody stools. It was SO scary! He did get better after the Benadryl, but I don't want to ever go through that again. I know that this next time we should pretreat with Benadryl, but I've heard stories on the FML about pretreating and still having the same reaction. What if that would happen to Rocket? Then what does the vet do? Rocket has had a rough year after being diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease, getting better, and then relapsing, and then getting better again. He has also lost about half the hair on his tail, starting at the tip, so he may have adrenal as well. Experiences of many of the FMLers have told me that it may just be rat-tail from the IBD, so I'm not certain about the adrenal. We're waiting to see if the hair loss gets worse. But, my point is that my baby is stressed, and I don't want anything bad happening to him from shots. What do you think I should do? We used the Fervac vaccine last year. Should I request that my vet try Galaxy D? If my vet does not carry Galaxy D in the clinic, can he get it easily? Are there any other approved vaccines that vets have started using? I assume we should pretreat regardless of what vaccine we end up using, right? Should Mykah also be pretreated, even if she hasn't had a reaction before? Please respond. I will appreciate your advice very much. Thanks, Shyla And Rocket, Mykah, Lynk, and Jewell the cat [Posted in FML issue 3562]