From:
"katharine"
Date: 2004-08-01 10:50:07 UTC
Subject: Heartworms, Lyme, and Distemper
To: "Ferret Health List" <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <001501c477b5$4f87eaf0$7f102cc7@D1CW2811>
I have recently taken in a little boy, Manny, who was lost outside for 3 da=
ys. He is 5 y.o., blind, and somehow survived in the Florida heat and thun=
derstorms for those 3 days. Some good Samaritans found him and, without bo=
ring you with the details, his owners turned him over to me. He is truly a=
miracle boy. =
Three questions.....
Question #1: He definitely will be tested for HWs. Dr. Murray stated in a=
n earlier post that it takes 6 months after exposure for the test to work a=
ccurately. I have already started him on my monthly HW prevention, Ivermec=
tin and Propylene Glycol. Is this enough to kill any HWs that may already =
be there? And then should I test in 6 months? If the test is negative, is=
that the end of it or should I test again later? I do have a HW+ boy now =
and he was treated using ProHeart (http://miamiferret.org/fhc/heartworm.htm=
). He was tested after 3 months and was still a strong positive so he had =
a second ProHeart injection in July. He will be re-tested in another 3 mon=
ths.
Question #2: I have found 2-3 ticks on him and have pulled them off. Is t=
here a test for Lyme disease which can be used in ferrets? What symptoms s=
hould I watch for?
Question #3: He last had his distemper and rabies vacs in the spring of 20=
02, so he is a year late. Should I do the 2 distemper vacs or only 1? Sin=
ce he's been outside, and could have possibly been exposed, would that make=
a difference in the answer?
He is going for a vet check this week. He was only legally turned over to =
me on Friday night though I have had him since Wednesday.
Thanks in advance for any assistance/opinions.
Katharine
http://community.webshots.com/user/katharine524