Re: Issue 842 6 way canine vaccines I would just like to caution anyone about using canine vaccines with multiple viruses in them on ferrets. I WOULD ADVISE AGAINST IT. It is true that you can get away with a lot in these guys, but we have (and others have) also seen canine distemper being CAUSED by using inappropriate vaccines. The multiple canine vaccine products are not chick embryo origin, which is the only kind that is approved for safe use in the ferret. Also the "green virus" has NOT been proven to be the same parvo virus or even that it is a parvo virus that is seen in dogs. Just because some ferrets were vaccinated with the 6 way vaccines and they never got it doesn't mean it is protecting them. The ferret population that develops the "green diarrhea" is very tiny compared to the whole population numbers. Mine, nor any ferret in my practice, have not been vaccinated with the 6 way vaccine and they have not gotten it either, because they have probably not been exposed. I think that it is dangerous to introduce into an animal's immune system a bunch of live viruses (and that is what is in vaccines) that they don't need and have to spend time cleaning up and getting rid of. I see so much lymphoma in ferrets in my area, which suppresses their immune systems, (and they act outwardly perfectly normal for months to years) that if they were exposed to these multivalent vaccines, they could easily break with a nasty disease. Bottom line....vaccinate them for ONLY WHAT THEY NEED...over kill is not necessarily good. They only need canine distemper (FERVAC-D or FROMM D are the only safe ones to use) and rabies (IMRAB is the only approved one to use). P.S. There is a flourescent green diarrhea that is caused by a rotavirus that is usually harmless and runs its course in 3-7 days with just good supportive care. Antibiotics are generally not necessary and it will run through a whole ferretry within a few days. This is different than the dreaded reoccuring green/orange/brown diarrhea, wasting disease seen on the East coast in the last two years of which we do not know a cause. Dr. Susan A. Brown [Posted in FML issue 0845]