Post by kelseyjosine on Mar 23, 2010 15:35:49 GMT -5
Hey everyone, I'm not sure if this is in the right section so feel free to move it.
I took my ferrets Punk and Fergie to the vet today for a wellness visit and to have their rabies shots before we move on Monday. I brought along all the paperwork so they could take blood and do titers for the distemper. My vet clinic is probably the most expensive and has the most up to date equipment and they don't even do titers haha. Anyway my vet was more than willing to contribute to the Mongo Memorial Distemper Titer Study and said she was glad people were starting to question this.
So they took them back to give them their rabies vaccine and draw blood. I've had Punk for just over 2 years and we've previously done 2 rabies shots and 2 distemper shots and he never had a reaction. I don't know Punk's real age but we're guessing around 4ish. Fergie is just over a year old and has also had a rabies and distemper shot.
They brought Punk back and took Fergie and after about 15 minutes Punk started having a reaction. He started throwing up and they rushed him into the back. Punk is in great health, no diseases yet (knock on wood haha), and like I said before has never had a reaction. After about 10 minutes they brought him back into the exam room. His whole body was limp and he couldn't control his bowels. He just randomly pooped yellow seedy diarrhea and would throw up also. Then he pooped like...a puddle of blood. So I yell for the tech again and they take him back again. Then the vet comes in and we decide to keep him there for a couple of hours so they can watch him. At about noon (our appointment was at 8:30 am) they called and said he was much better.
So I go to pick him up and he's already acting like his old self. The vet then told me that she had called Cornell, where the distemper study is being done, and they're only taking ferrets that haven't been vaccinated for distemper in at least 2 years. They still agreed to do the titer, it just wouldn't be in the study. But, to have the samples shipped and tested would be like $95. So I decided to just not vaccinate them and wait until next year to do the titer.
I just wanted to tell this story because I don't think people think as much about rabies reactions. I had always heard that while it was possible they'd have a reaction, it was more rare than a distemper reaction. I live in North Dakota and they don't require that ferrets have a rabies vaccination, so I'm not going to do the rabies shot for any of them anymore. If it's not legally required, no way. It's just too scary and not worth it. My ferrets are rarely outside and are never around dogs or even other pets. The chances of them getting rabies or distemper is slim to none. And I don't let people that I don't know handle them, so no little kids screaming they got bit and parents accusing them of rabies haha.
It was just scary and I'm not saying no one get the rabies shot either, but my ferrets will no longer be getting any vaccinations.
I took my ferrets Punk and Fergie to the vet today for a wellness visit and to have their rabies shots before we move on Monday. I brought along all the paperwork so they could take blood and do titers for the distemper. My vet clinic is probably the most expensive and has the most up to date equipment and they don't even do titers haha. Anyway my vet was more than willing to contribute to the Mongo Memorial Distemper Titer Study and said she was glad people were starting to question this.
So they took them back to give them their rabies vaccine and draw blood. I've had Punk for just over 2 years and we've previously done 2 rabies shots and 2 distemper shots and he never had a reaction. I don't know Punk's real age but we're guessing around 4ish. Fergie is just over a year old and has also had a rabies and distemper shot.
They brought Punk back and took Fergie and after about 15 minutes Punk started having a reaction. He started throwing up and they rushed him into the back. Punk is in great health, no diseases yet (knock on wood haha), and like I said before has never had a reaction. After about 10 minutes they brought him back into the exam room. His whole body was limp and he couldn't control his bowels. He just randomly pooped yellow seedy diarrhea and would throw up also. Then he pooped like...a puddle of blood. So I yell for the tech again and they take him back again. Then the vet comes in and we decide to keep him there for a couple of hours so they can watch him. At about noon (our appointment was at 8:30 am) they called and said he was much better.
So I go to pick him up and he's already acting like his old self. The vet then told me that she had called Cornell, where the distemper study is being done, and they're only taking ferrets that haven't been vaccinated for distemper in at least 2 years. They still agreed to do the titer, it just wouldn't be in the study. But, to have the samples shipped and tested would be like $95. So I decided to just not vaccinate them and wait until next year to do the titer.
I just wanted to tell this story because I don't think people think as much about rabies reactions. I had always heard that while it was possible they'd have a reaction, it was more rare than a distemper reaction. I live in North Dakota and they don't require that ferrets have a rabies vaccination, so I'm not going to do the rabies shot for any of them anymore. If it's not legally required, no way. It's just too scary and not worth it. My ferrets are rarely outside and are never around dogs or even other pets. The chances of them getting rabies or distemper is slim to none. And I don't let people that I don't know handle them, so no little kids screaming they got bit and parents accusing them of rabies haha.
It was just scary and I'm not saying no one get the rabies shot either, but my ferrets will no longer be getting any vaccinations.
)she may not be able to complete her goal of proving that vaccines only be given once to offer immunity for life. It's not a popular topic with vets either as they make a fair amount of money off of vaccines.