Wow-there are some strong words about the notion of vaccinating and pretreating ferrets for vaccines. I am a veterinary technician in a private clinic and at a shelter, as well as a ferret owner. Reasons I vaccinate: -Rabies: It's the law. It does suck that my one pound ferret gets the same amount of rabies vaccine every year by law that a 150 pound mastiff gets every three years, especially considering the low likelihood of my ferrets getting rabies and passing it along to anyone. However, until I can help get those laws changed (which is one of my goals someday, and will be a focus for me if I get into vet school and an animals and public policy master's program), it is worth it for me to vaccinate my ferrets for rabies in case, God forbid, they ever bit anyone, were bit, or got into a situation where having had their rabies vaccine would protect us (or help to) from instant euthanization and rabies testing versus quarantining. It also helps protect my guys from other animals, if for example, they got outside or were exposed somehow to other unvaccinated or potentially infected animals. Unless my guys have had terrible reactions to the vaccine despite pretreating, like my Nicodemus, or were very, very ill (like my Marley), for whom we discontinued the vaccine, my ferrets get the rabies vaccine. -Distemper: Canine distemper is pretty much 100% fatal in ferrets, and it is a horrible, painful way to die. You can theoretically carry in viruses on your clothes, shoes, etc even if your ferrets aren't exposed to any other animals. I personally work in a shelter where we see a lot of puppies, some of them sick, and I would never take the chance of bringing that home with me and putting my ferrets at risk by not vaccinating them against it. I have seen what distemper does to a ferret, and I wouldn't do that to my guys for anything. Why I pretreat with Benadryl: I disagree that Benadryl is a dangerous toxin when used in appropriate doses and as directed. We frequently recommend its use before prescribing a stronger sedative such as acepromazine in dogs, for example, who have travel anxiety or who can't rest during their crate-confinement period after an orthopedic procedure. I have used it for my guys to combat sy,mptoms of itchiness from mast cell tumors and hair regrowth after adrenal disease treatments-my Daisy was ripping her skin apart scratching as her fur started to regrow until I started her on a low oral dose of Benadryl, and it has helped her considerably and prevented her from continuing to break down her skin and exposing her to bacterial infections, etc. I have personally had three vaccine reactions among my crew, all three to the IMRAB3 rabies vaccine, which is less common than reactions to any distemper vax used in ferrets. One reaction wasn't so bad-it was almost an hour and a half post vaccine (also kind of unusual) and it was bloody diarrhea and vomiting. One other ferret had a bad reaction 45 minutes later-bloody diarrhea, vomiting and some respiratory distress, and the next year had a severe reaction immediately, and required oxygen therapy in addition to steroids and antihistamine. We decided in his case not to vaccinate again for rabies (this was Nicodemus), and I was glad that we had pretreated-the reaction may have been far worse. It has been my experience that there have been far less vaccine reactions, and less severe ones, when we have pretreated our ferret patients with what I feel is a safe drug, Benadryl. It is certainly not irresponsible of any vet or ferret owner to recommend its use, and it is a vet's prerogative, as the person who might be exposing themselves to a lawsuit or worse if your ferret had an anaphylactic reaction and died, to insist upon it if they are going to be the ones vaccinating your pet. You can choose not to go there. My previous clinic not only insisted on pretreating-there was not even an extra charge for the Benadryl, it was just part of the vaccine protocol- they wouldn't do vaccines on a ferret unless you agreed to stick around for 45 minutes afterwarsd, and we wouldn't do more than one vaccine at a time. One clinic I have taken my ferrets to has also used dexamethasone as a premed instead of diphenhydramine (Benadryl)-dexamethasone is often used to treat reactions as well. Some people feel that pretreating maybe only slows the reaction and masks it, and choose not to use it. Incidentally, Bendaryl doesn't seem to slow my guys down at all or make them any sleepierthan normal. Vaccines themselves can make any animal sleepy for about 24 hours or so, information that we pass along to all of our pet owners before giving vaccines, with the signs they should be aware of with vaccine reactions. We have had dogs have severe reactions to their vaccines at my current clinic, and those animals now get pretreated with meds such as Benadryl, and one of them was so bad, but he had to have his rabies vaccine for travel (the owner lives out of the country six months a year), so we put a catheter in him, pretreat, then keep him under watch in the hospital for a few hours in case he needs IV steroids, fluids, etc. That's my expertise as a vet tech and ferret owner and my advice as such. It is up to each of us to do our homework and decide what's best for our guys, and to communicate with our healthcare providers about such; I certainly don't think the advice or info in question is out of order, dangerous, or designed to incense someone or lead anyone into dangerous waters. My two cents, April AC, vet tech and ferret slave, and Daisy, Finnegan, Artemis and Wellington; missing Cora, Bandit, Holly, Nicodemus, Marley, Shannon, Sparkle and Renate [Posted in FML issue 5124]