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]