From:
Roger Vaughn
Date: 2002-01-27 10:29:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] Ferret Shots?????
Hi, Steve.
You definitely need to get them their shots. You haven't done any
harm by missing them so far, but it's time to get them finished up.
Your vet should have mentioned the follow-ups, but I suppose they
sometimes assume everyone knows these things.
Distemper is very deadly (99%+ mortality rate) to ferret and can be
carried on your shoes and clothing, so it's imperative that you finish
that series.
Occurrences of rabies in ferrets appear to be very rare, but the
vaccination is important to his health in another way. You need to be
able to show a vaccination certificate in case he bites someone else
(even lightly - people can be amazingly petty given the chance).
Authorities seem to be much less lenient than they are with cats and
dogs when confiscating ferrets for rabies checks and could destroy
them if you can't produce that certificate.
I am not a vet and your vet can advise you better, but your kids can
probably just finish off the missed shots in their distemper series.
Make sure you separate their distemper and rabies shots by at least
two weeks. This is to lessen the chance of a bad reaction to the
vaccines, and to allow you to figure out which one they react to if
they do. Some people recommend pretreating them with Benadryl before
the injections to lessen the chance and severity of bad reactions.
Watch the list for dosages, though your vet should be able to tell
you. Also, plan to wait at the vet's office for half an hour to an
hour after the injections to watch them for a bad reaction.
Roger, Digger and Bear