From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2009-03-11 15:50:31 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Vaccination reactions
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
That is strange.
Like you, we are long-time ferret people, in
our case something like 27 or 28 years, but
our experiences have been more like the
research figures, though I do have to say,
probably a little higher than them. Of course,
most of those reactions were with Fervac D
and that has been pulled from the market.
Variations on the theme in our family:
One who reacted to Fervac also reacted to
Galaxy. One reacted to all vaccines, including
IMRAB 3. I can not offhand recall if the one
other we had who reacted to IMRAB 3 (the
one year rabies vaccine in ferrets) also
reacted to any canine distemper vaccines,
but those two who reacted to the rabies
vaccines were thought to have a high chance
or being related to each other by their source.
Otherwise, the ones we had who reacted all
reacted to the now gone Fervac D which was
pulled from the market -- what -- 2 or 3
years ago now? More? That is just a guess
on timeframe.
BTW, I have heard of some people still using
old Fervac. NOT a good idea.
The vast majority of the ferrets we have had
have never had a reaction. Can it happen?
Of course. It might happen to one of ours
at any time. Is it likely? Not from the research
and not from most experiences.
So, the question becomes this:
what factors could be involved in your ferrets
having had such bad results?
You said that your vets own ferrets have not
reacted, and you said that you have had ferrets
who reacted with the same batch. Certainly,
storage problems have been cited by others
as being connected with reaction in the past,
and those can vary among batches. There was
a shelter in a midwest which posted to the
Ferret Mailing List maybe about 10 years ago
that it had been seeing a large number of
vaccine reactions but did not find a problem
with the way that they or their vet was storing
the vaccine so they changed to direct shipment
from the manufacturer and the rate went way
down. They concluded that the problem was
with the distributor.
If I recall right, wasn't there a recent article
(maybe a year or two ago) on the resale of
expired pet meds that discussed the problems
arising, and if i recall right wasn't increased
allergic responses one thing mentioned as a
possibility?
What I am wondering is if it might make
sense to review the origin and the places the
med has been, perhaps try alternatives to see
if the situation improves, if you decide to try
again or if another client has encountered
anything similar.
If there actually are any differences in husbandry
that can increase the risk of allergic reactions
happening then perhaps things are worth knowing
about and tackling. Among humans, there are
factors that can increase the risk of allergic reactions:
exposures to tobacco smoke (including as a fetus
in at least one thing I ran into but I can't recall if that
is still thought to be a hypothesis or well enough
demonstrated), exposures to certain pollutants some
hypothesized and some with strong evidence), extreme
cleanliness in the home during childhood (but I can't
recall if that is still thought to be a hypothesis or if
there is strong evidence now). Let's see. I think there
are others but nothing else comes to my mind off-hand
and I don't have time for a search right now. Still,
perhaps some of these may affect a ferret's likelihood
to develop allergies. Certainly, a lot of the research into
the problems that tobacco can cause humans was actually
done with ferrets as the animal model.
Others may know more or have time I lack now to look the
things up.
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