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Post by tink80 on Sept 19, 2008 20:14:28 GMT -5
it was supposed to be a normal vet visit. just gonna check baby bear's eye and do his vaccinations since he was due in two weeks anyway and i'd already planned on going there. i was paying at the counter and i hear labored breathing coming from the carrier. i snatched it up and he was frothing at the mouth and gagging and gasping. the tech ran him back to the vet. i sat and wrung my hands for what felt like forever..the tech said the doctor was still trying to stabilize him and they were giving him oxygen. i tried so hard to tell myself it was fine and tried to read the magazines but i just couldn't concentrate and wondered why it was taking them so long if they just were going to give him an allergy shot for the reaction to vaccinations. thirty minutes went by and i was starting to lose it. finally the vet came out holding him and sat next to me. blood was just coming and coming out of his little bottom and he was still gagging but for the most part he was in stable condition. she said it was the worst case of Anaphylactic shock that she'd seen and advised to never vaccinate him again, it's just not worth the risk. she asked me where i live and i told her thirty minutes away. the closest emergency vet is about that far too. she said she was very worried to send him home because if he started having trouble breathing again i might not have that long to get him treated. she is a wonderful woman with ferrets of her own and offered to bring him home with her tonight where she would have the tools handy to bring him out of it if he went into shock again. i agreed. she will call me tonight and tomorrow morning for updates. god willing if he is fine she is going to meet me at a halfway point tomorrow so i can bring him home. i'm glad of this as i would be a wreck the whole night and not feel capable of treating him if things should go bad or even of getting him to the doctor in time. it could go bad very quickly if his breathing gets weak again. i tried to act casual but once i got in the car i just lost it and bawled. it was so scary. when she came out with him he was limp and his eyes were barely open and she had blood and vomit all over her and his whole bottom fur was covered in blood. my big fear is something will happen after she goes to sleep tonight and he'll be dead in the morning. he just has to be okay. none of us could have known. but i just feel horrible. and his brother will be sleeping alone tonight. i just can't believe it. they also gave him two allergy shots and a shot of epinephrine/adrenalin to help the breathing. prayers/vibes/thoughts would be appreciated.
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Post by weloveourweasels on Sept 19, 2008 22:12:20 GMT -5
OMG That is so scary!!!! Did they not wait 15-30 minutes in the back room before they gave him back to you to see if he had an adverse reaction. Did he have distemper booster or rabies or both? I have read it is best to get those shots 2-3 weeks apart. That is so scary and I will never vaccinate again for anything! I really hope Baby Bear will be ok he deserves to live out his whole life and die of natural causes. This makes me sick to my stomach seriously. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I were you. Honestly I would have gotten a hotel room and stayed next to the hospital just in case.
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Post by tink80 on Sept 19, 2008 22:36:31 GMT -5
i had just got done praying my heart out and the vet called. she says he's home with her and it's calmed down and he appears to just be sleeping it off at this point. she'll call me in the morning to update and let me know if i can have him back tomorrow.
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Post by Heather on Sept 19, 2008 23:00:36 GMT -5
I will light a healing candle for your furbaby. What a horrible thing, I'm sorry that you and your furchild had to go through this. I will never vaccinate...I haven't in years. I've watched this so many times. There is no reason to vaccinate like this...but this is neither the time or the place to vent against vaccines. I have my reasons for not vaccinating, others have theirs to do so. I will keep your little one in my thoughts and I hope that there will be only joy when you awaken tomorrow and find your loving furchild as he was. Good luck ciao
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 20, 2008 1:01:45 GMT -5
I hope your little guy is better tomorrow. Usually, these reactions remain resolved once the patient is stabilized.
If the vet give him the OK to come home, ask her i there is any special things you can do to make him as strong as possible (pedialyte, etc.)
Anaphylactic reactions are exhausting - epinephrine is also exhausting. So your baby will most likely be exhausted. (I've been through both myself - I equate the combination of the two with surgery!)
All of our fingers, toes, and paws are crossed for your little one!
-jennifer
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Post by weloveourweasels on Sept 20, 2008 1:23:46 GMT -5
Oh i didn't even realize the vet took him home with her. Thats very good. I hope he will be ok!
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Post by suds on Sept 20, 2008 7:03:16 GMT -5
omg that is horrific !! I had titters done last time I was at the vet and all levels where good I think even if they are low in the future I will not get any boosters the risk of the shots verses the risk of them getting rabies or distemper is not worth it ! Its a great example for all to know how important waiting the 30 minutes is and not get impaiten and leave sooner imagine if the reaction happened while driving home omg !
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Post by cristina on Sept 20, 2008 13:42:33 GMT -5
My silver mitt male almost had that same reaction, when he got his vaccinations 15 min later (when I was driving home) in the car he started to paw uncontrollably and started vomiting and defecating all over and he couldnt control it, so I rushed back to the vet and they kept him in the back for 45 min giving him dose after dose of benadryl.
Luckily after an hour at the vets he was finally ready to go home, thank god it worked and he was alright after that but they said it was a reaction to both vaccinations at once, but Im still so scared to give him any at all!
I feel your pain and wish the best for both of you!
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Post by tink80 on Sept 20, 2008 15:37:06 GMT -5
thank you everyone for your kind thoughts. i'm happy to report baby bear is home now. the vet called me a few hours ago and she was on her way to a personal appointment one town over and described her vehicle so i could just grab him from the backseat without looking for her first. she must have given him a bath for me as all the blood is off his white fur and he smells like shampoo. she is so nice. after a thorough sniffdown on everyone's part he gobbled up some kibble and had a nice plate of soup. then him and his brother settled down for a bonding nap. i had to put some ferretone on him and the conditioning spray i usually use so monkey would stop being out of sorts about the way he smelled. he seemed to accept that and now they are back to normal again. i will definitely be watching his potties for blood though as he hasn't gone to the bathroom yet and i'm thinking they might be off at first. this house just wasn't a home without baby bear in it. monkey and i were restless all night. the only place i was able to fall asleep was their room so i stayed in there with the phone next to me on high volume. things are returning to normal, thank goodness although i am watching him like a hawk.
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Post by tink80 on Sept 20, 2008 15:58:52 GMT -5
oh as far as the waiting we did for fifteen minutes for monkey last month (she says it's usually right away). baby bear started reacting probably five minutes after i'd say. i believe it's the rabies vaccine b/c his certificate of health said he got a distemper vaccine when he was a kit. i would think he would have died if he was allergic to that and since he was so young but you never know what happens at a mill, right? also could have been the combo. i will never vaccinate him again, that is for sure.
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Post by cristina on Sept 20, 2008 16:28:46 GMT -5
Heres a tip I found to be interesting: Many/most albino or ferrets that have more than 50% white on their body are more subjective to get negative reactions after vaccinations....I dont know if this is true its just a statistic I came across, but it certainly made sense when my silver mitt reacted! I dont know y they are more likely to have a reaction but its good to know since I wont be vaccinating both shots at once ever again for Boomer or any "white" ferret I may get in the future! Im so happy to hear hes feeling good and comfortable , its such a helpless feeling when a ferret is sick!!!
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Post by Forum Administrator on Sept 20, 2008 16:30:36 GMT -5
I dont know y they are more likely to have a reaction but its good to know since I wont be vaccinating both shots at once ever again for Boomer or any "white" ferret I may get in the future! If that is true (Im not saying you are lying I'm just saying I've never looked it up) it would most likely be due to a genetic trait that is linked to color.
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Post by tss on Sept 20, 2008 20:33:55 GMT -5
That was so horrible. I can't believe stuff like that is so common. And the way pet health is run compared to human health, if it was as common for babies to have reactions to shots there wouldn't be any shots to give.
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Post by cristina on Sept 20, 2008 23:22:07 GMT -5
It is supposedly in their genetics actually I read, Ill try to find out where I read it but I was stunned when I saw it. I dont know if the person writing about it was creditable or not but it kinda "seems" true to an extent as far as I've heard but I dont know.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Sept 20, 2008 23:47:00 GMT -5
I'm so glad your little guy is doing well...you cannot ume that the reaction was to the Rbies just because he has had diteper hots in the past without any trouble. I don't vaccinate for rabies - but I don't let strangers near my brats either. Yes, it's illegal - but my vet is flexible . With my first 3 kids, I gave the babies distemper series an one booster. their titer levels were very strong. My 4th baby as given only the baby series, and he was marginal, so I gave him 1 booster. I'll be curious to see if his titer is very strong like the other three after this first year booster. The baby series plus the first booster is a common protocol, so I'll be curious to see if how this goes. I also give my kids transfer factor for two weeks before the vaccination is given. SOme people give benadryl just before vaccinations. I live in a location that has a lot of distemper/wildlife (many raccoons crawling all over the house - raccoon poop everywhere). When I was rehabbing wildlife, we put down a lot of animals that had distemper, so it's a tough decision. -jennifer
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