Message Number: SG8160 | New FHL Archives SearchFrom: AFERRETVET@cs.com
Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2004 11:44:16 EST
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Subject: Re: Vaccine reactions
Message-ID: <d9.506b099.2d7b59e0@cs.com>
Hi everybody,
A lot of the post have mentioned separating the
vaccines by 1-2 weeks "to prevent" reactions.
Unfortunately that will not prevent reactions! It will
just tell you which vaccine they are reacting too.
Plus in a semi-recent article from the U of Georgia,
both the rabies vaccine and the (Fervac-d) distemper
had roughly the same reaction rate if giving together.
or when they are giving by themself. The new Merial
Purevax distemper vaccine has a lower reaction rate
and a much lower rate of the severe reactions.
I have not seen a severe reaction since changing to
the Merial Purevax-distemper vaccine!!
As far as pretreating to prevent a vaccine reaction,
the owner can give liquid beneadryl roughly 30 minutes
prior to the vaccine. However if the ferret has had a vaccine
reaction previously then check to see which distemper vaccine
was used. Obviously change to the Merial Purevax distemper
if either Fervac-d or Galaxy-d was used previously. If it was
just a mild reaction then merely changing to Purevax may
solve the problem, but it would be a good thing to give Benadryl
to be safe. However if it was a moderate to severe reaction then
I use cortisone prior to the vaccine to prevent a reaction.
No, the cortisone will not prevent a immune response to the
vaccine, but it does prevent the vaccine allergic reaction.
Remember dogs, cats, and even humans have vaccine reactions.
Unfortunately ferrets do have a higher rate of vaccine reactions
(roughly 5% in the U of Georgia article).
Hope that helps,
Jerry Murray, DVM
Send comments to Pam at pjdutche@email.unc.edu. Please note that this address is only useful for questions about the FHL archive. Questions about ferret health, or those intended for the FHL, should be sent to the Ferret Health List.