Hi all, Before I begin, Alexander is doing quite well now. Yesterday, I took my Alexander and Roxana in for their distemper shots. They got there shots and I paid my vet bill and was talking to my vet, Dr. Kayne, about possible vets in the area I am moving to. Ten minutes later, I started to leave. I put the carrier in the front passenger seat and noticed that one of them had thrown up. I ran back in and the assistant got Dr. Kayne. She looked at Alexander because it was obvious he was the one who was sick since he was just laying there limp and Roxana was bouncing off the ceiling trying to find out what was wrong with him. She took him to the back of the clinic, and about every 10 minutes an assistant would walk in and tell me that he was doing much better. As I paced the floor, fighting an all out breakdown, Roxana laid very still in my arms and occasionally gave me kisses (strange for Roxana, who NEVER gives kisses, only bites everyone except me). Finally, after about 30 minutes, I was taken back to see Alexander in an oxygen tank. She had given him an ?ephedrine? shot. She said his heart rate had continued to slow down and she gave him another shot to counter that. He had gone into total anaphalactic(sp?) shock. She said he was doing much better now, and she was going to keep him and that I could pick him up in about two hours, right before they closed. She was very kind and considerate and she probably knew I was about to totally breakdown. I called my husband and picked him up. A couple hours later we picked up Alexander, who was looking much better. He slept a lot last night with Roxana right by his side. I knew if anything went wrong, she would let me know. This morning, he was perkier than I've seen him in a long time. And my eyes were red and bloodshot from lack of sleep and tears. I knew immediately when I saw the vomit that it was an allergic reaction to the shot, mainly because of this mailing list. She had said that it was because of the possible allergic reactions to shots that the staff does not rush to check you out. I always figured they were just being casual. Now I know it was on purpose. Now I am really regretting, not my moving to Chicago, but my leaving this wonderful, caring dream vet and the wonderful staff at Striegal Animal Hospital. If anyone ever moves to the southern Illinois area, this is the ONLY ferret vet in the area. And I don't just mean the only good one, I mean the only one. Alexander is well now, though he will no longer be getting the distemper shot. Only now do I have even the merest hint of what it is like for someone to lose there much loved fuzzy friend. Dr. Kayne said he almost died. And I knew when I was pacing the floor that it could happen. And it scared me to death. To everyone out there, hug the fuzzy closest to you now. Personally, I had a group hug this morning. Dee, with Alexander, Roxana, Snoopy and two cats --> Purrkins and Shadow [Posted in FML issue 1897]