From:
AFERRETVET@cs.com
Date: 2001-05-19 18:54:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] RE: 3 year vaccines
Hi Sue,
Yes, some vets are recommending to vaccinate CATS
every three years with some of the vaccines. This is based
on just 1 study of a small group of CATS (9 if I remember correctly)
that was done at Cornell's vet school. They came to the conclusion
that some of the vaccines actually lasted for 3 years based on
titers.
However when they did a challenge study (exposed them to the disease
causing agent) the results were not so good. Many of the "protected"
cats got sick, but they only had mild signs of the disease. Based on
this
small, limited study, many vets recommend vaccinating CATS
every 3 years. Interesting to note, the 2 vaccines that have been
linked
to serious adverse reactions in CATS (FeLV and Rabies) were not
even included in the Cornell study.
Now on to ferret vaccines.
There has not been a duration of immunity study done on ferrets that
I know of; therefore, we simply do not know how long the vaccines
last.
Since both distemper and rabies are fatal diseases, lets not change
our
vaccine protocol until there is a good study showing how long the
vaccines
last in FERRETS. In the mean time please do not gamble with fatal
diseases
that can be easily prevented.
Jerry Murray, DVM