From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2007-06-15 18:00:44 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re:Delayed reaction to distemper shot
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Reactions can happen any time in life, but some things
which can increase the risk of reaction include (but are
certainly not limited to):
1. Being genetically prone to them
2. Being at an age where the immune system is very strong
(yes, strong, not weak)
3. Having had multiple exposures
Poor care of vaccines (including in transport has also been
suggested as possibly increasing risk.
Some batches are bad so reactions should be reported.
There are many factors.
Luckily, the vast majority of ferrets will never react to a vaccine.
Reactions are why two sets of independent work are underway
to first study what titer levels from canine distemper vaccines
actually mean in ferrets.
When the titer data is in then the challenge studies will tell
if the titer interpretations are correct. Should that be the
case then it will be able to tell how long healthy ferrets can
go between canine distemper vaccines.
People can read more about the public faces of this work and
how we all can help in the FHL Archives at
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
in the latest issue of Ferrets magazine (in Troy Lynn's pages
if memory serves), and in
http://www.ferret.org/news/07-april-titer_study.shtm
For a full anaphylactic reaction Benedryl is nowhere near
enough and immediate vet care must be sought in case
blood pressure drops too much or airways close. As with
humans Epineprine is the most essential med, but the ferret
may also need steroids, fluids, oxygen, antihistamines, and
more.
If a ferret has had Epi I believe in taking some extra accident
avoidance precautions afterward -- just in case they might
have the "I can do anything." feeling humans sometimes have
for a while afterward despite actually being weaker due to the
reaction. (Some people and some ferrets can get panicky after
Epi (and the reaction itself can cause panic and feeling of
impending doom sometimes), and I would not be surprised if
some ferrets feel silly after Epi because a number of people do.)
There is a lot in the archives on anaphylactic reactions
(anaphylaxia) and here is some vet refs for ferret people:
http://www.2ndchance.info/distemperferret.htm
http://www.2ndchance.info/anaphylaxis.htm
http://www.exoticpetvet.net/smanimal/vaccine.html
(The rabies vaccine is less commonly a cause of anaphylactic
reactions, and getting longer acceptance for rabies vaccines
is more difficult and serious due to the nature of the disease,
but I think that it should be kept in the backs of people's
minds as a future research project to help fund when it comes
along.)
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, Jody Williams <jody_wllms@...> wrote:
>
> We recently had a ferret that received her third distemper vaccine and she had a reaction
about 1 hour after the shot. She started throwing up, swaying and very glassy eyed. My
daughter ran her back to the vet and they kept her till later in the evening. She is okay but
this is getting scary. You say you keep bebedryl surup on hand. What is the dosing on
that? Also, what should we do when it is time for her next shot. I believe I read somewhere
that it is usually around the third shot that reactions become a problem. Is this correct? We
have six ferrets and three of them will be coming due their third shots.
>
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