From:
weasellover21090
Date: 2002-05-16 13:28:00 UTC
Subject: Merial distemper shot reaction
I took three of my ferrets to the vet this morning for thier
distemper vacinations. Last year one of the ferrets had a reaction to
the old vacine, so I was praying that there would be no reaction to
the Merial vacine, but with in minutes my three yr old Brandy went
into shock, she had diareaha, and started to vomit and appeared to go
into convulsions. We hadn't even made it out of the examination room,
we had already vaccinated her cage mate and was about to do the other
ferret when it happened. She is out of the woods now, but the vet is
keeping her the rest of the day for observation, we almost lost her
this morning. My vet and I have come to the conclusion that there
will be no more distemper shots. Another of my ferrets had a similar
reaction last fall to the old vaccine and we will not be going this
fall for the new one. I really didn't expect this to happen, we even
pretreated them with benadryl one half hour before the shots. I am so
upset now I am still shaking. Brandy is such a sweet ferret. I stayed
at the vets for several hours afterward, I wanted to make sure she
was out of the woods before I went home. I had been waiting for this
new vaccine, I even held off the appt. until my vet recieved his
shipment. If any vets read this I have a question. What precautions
can I take since I am not getting any more distemper shots. My
ferrets don't go outside, if the do they are in another cage with no
ground contact. I know I can bring the virus in on my shoes and I
will have to be careful to make sure we take off our shoes before
walking where the ferrets run. I would appreciate any answers on what
I can do to assure they don't come in contact with distemper.
Holly