From:
"Amy ."
Date: 2002-10-26 16:37:51 UTC
Subject: Dr. W- kit series and immunity duration
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <30887414.1035691247313.JavaMail.nobody@strontium>
Hello, I am writing because of a recent discussion on another group I
belong to. In my personal research into vaccines I have found the
reason
for our ferrets (cats & dogs, too) to get a series of vaccinations is
because we are not sure when the maternal immunities wear off so the
series
is an attempt to catch all of them. I was told that this was not true with
ferrets, that the distemper vac actually needs the series to booster the
immune system. Is this true, and if so can you point me somewhere so I
may
see the scientific data to back this up?
Next, studies on the duration of immunity show that a vaccine lasts
well
over a year and yearly vaccinations are not only unnecessary but could
be
harmful to our pets. In fact,the AVMA Journal (1996 #208) states that
there
is no scientific evdidence to support annual revaccinations. I have been
unable to find any info relating to ferrets, only dogs and cats. Is the
ferret different in that they do need the yearly booster? And if so, again
I would ask for some scientific evidence of that. I also wonder why our
pets are so different from people in the fact that we do not get yearly
boosters?
I am in no way trying to say that ferrets should not be vaccinated, but I
do believe we do overvaccinate our pets and the effects of that are
being
passed down through the generations and that could be one part of the
puzzle
of why we are seeing more diseases and problems in our pets.
Because of
some recent outbreaks of distemper in vaccinated ferrets it also has me
questioning either the vaccines themselves and if they work, or if we are
contributing to failures by compromising the immune system with the
repeated
assault on it.
I am sending along some links, again they are dog related but I have
been
unable to find any ferret related ones.
http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/health/common/vaccinations.html
http://www.ivis.org/advances/Infect_Dis_Carmichael/schultz/
chapter_frm.asp?LA=1
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/vaccines2.html
Thank you very much for your time,
~Amy~