From:
mjanke@miamiferret.org
Date: 2002-09-04 22:27:12 UTC
Subject: RE: Rabies Vaccine
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <20685965.1031178432622.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Yes, the vaccine is safe, though there is the occasional allergic reaction to it. It's always best to stay at the vet for at least 45 minutes after a vaccination in case there is a reaction.
Is it necessary? Well, the odds your ferret will get rabies is probably slim to none, but if your ferret were to ever bite someone and hadn't been vaccinated for rabies, there could be a problem. Some places could demand euthanization and then decapitation so they can test the brain cells for rabies. I don't think you want that happening to your ferret.
There definitely have been cases of rabies in ferrets. We had one down here in Florida a few years back. I still have pages and pages somewhere of health dept. reports on the incident. I named my Beasley after that unfortunate ferret. Perhaps you misread those sites... there's never been a documented case of rabies being transmitted to a human by a ferret, but that doesn't mean there's never been a ferret with rabies.
mike
Author wrote:
> My questions this:
> 1. Is rabies vaccine currently on the market all that safe?
> 2. Is a rabies vaccine for ferrets even really necessary? I have seen at various sites, that there has not been one recorded case of a ferret with rabies. Is all this true?