From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-05-30 00:31:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Galaxy?
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Claire Curtis <chcurtis@e...> wrote:
> Hi --
> My guys should be vaccinated for distemper in the next month or so.
I
> asked the vet I went to for rabies vaccinations about reactions to
> Fervac, and in the course of the conversation he mentioned that he
> thinks that another vaccine, Galaxy, has a lower incidence of
reactions.
> However, it is not approved for ferrets.
>
> A 1994 article ( http://www.acmeferret.com/infobank/d94_vacc.htm )
> quotes our Dr Bruce Williams as saying it's too early to conclude
that
> Galaxy will be harmless to ferrets. That was 7 years ago; do we know
> anything more about it? Has anyone out there used Galaxy on their
kids?
Well, it is 7 years later, and Galaxy-D is the vaccine that I use on
my own ferrets. There is no guarantee that an individual will not
react with this vaccine, but the overall incidence of reactions
appears to be far less than with Fervac. Of course, all of the
precautions are in effect with this or any other vaccine -
pretreatment wih 2mg benedryl 10-30 minutes prior, and remaining in
the vet's office for 30 minutes after the vaccination.
I think that there is a sufficient body of knowledge both among
ferret owners, and with limited trials of this in the veterinary
literature that Galaxy D is effective in protecting against canine
distemper, and that there are no long-term adverse effects. However,
we must always be cognizant of immediate risks associated with
anaphylactic reactions whenever we use any vaccine on our ferrets.
With kindest regards,
Bruce H. Williams, DVM, DACVP
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