Preventative healthcare for ferrets

[Deleted]

Hello!

I know that ferrets require a canine distemper vaccine as well as a rabies vaccine, but I am wondering if ferrets ought to have a regular de-worming and de-fleaing regiment?

When I had my pair previously I didn't worry about worms and fleas very much, but when I get my baby this year I plan on him/her going everywhere with me, especially on walks out through our woods. Worms haven't ever been an issue for us, but fleas and ticks (especially ticks) are.

Do you all think/know if de-worming and flea treatment should be a part of routine health care?

Thank you!

[msav]

At the most I would only give an initial dose of rabies and distemper.

The initial does is generally all that is needed for the life of the ferret. I used to have the vet run Titers to see what levels of the vaccine are in their system, I stopped doing it after the titers came back good for the life of the Ferret.

The most important preventative I use is a yearly Deslorelin implant to prevent adrenal. I have been doing it for 8 years now and none of my ferrets have become adrenal. It may be expensive to give every year but compare that to what it costs in treating adrenal and quality of life when adrenal, it pays off in the long term.

I only treat fleas and mites if I see them. if you are in a heavy flea area it may be a good idea to use as preventative. I user Revolution (stronghold). I order it from Pet Shed (Australia) No prescription needed.

Revolution treats fleas, ticks, Mites, worms, and mosquitoes

[LindaM]

msav At what age for the ferrets did you start getting them implanted? Have you experienced any types of complications by getting them implanted? And what kind of cost did your implants run?

[Deleted]

@masv thank you for the reply!

Unfortunately where I live it is legally required to have a ferret annually vaccinated for rabies, though my ferret vet has ferrets herself and doesn't vaccinate them after one of hers reacted to the injection.

I think I might call my vet and/or Cornell and ask about the deslorelin implant. I know that light exposure may also play a big role in adrenal, so I imagine if I pair light control with the implant that adrenal shouldn't be an issue. Then of course insulinoma is easy-peasy with raw feeding. (What's funny is my mother actually has metabolism type B which means that when she eats too many carbs and sugars her pancreas over-produces insulin...just like insulinoma in ferrets!)

In the winter ticks aren't an issue, so I think I'll probably go with monthly application of resolution during warmer months since I'd like to take my ferret on walks through the woods when the weather's not too hot.

[LindaM]

I'm luckily enough that where I live rabies vac isn't required annually, except for my cat that is. My boy and girl need to get their first and final rabies injections in the coming month. Loki got his one and only distemper last month, Athena still needs hers. I don't count the shots they give as kits, they're so young and will still have the mother's antibodies to fight it off, so you can't be sure they even take. But because of the risk involved, mine get vaccinated for both only once.

Distemper seems to be the vaccine that causes the most concern and horrid effects compared to the rabies one though. We sat a full hour after the distemper shot in the vet waiting room to be sure Loki was taking to it alright without any side effects and kept a close eye on him the remainder of the day as well, thankfully he took it very well and we had no awful side effects.

[msav]

Jan 4, 2017 15:01:05 GMT -5 LindaM said:

msav At what age for the ferrets did you start getting them implanted? Have you experienced any types of complications by getting them implanted? And what kind of cost did your implants run?

For the babies I get the first implant in Before their first Season. 

If I adopt I get the implant in ASAP

My implants cost me about $200 each.  The vet I use does not charge me a exam fee or a fee for implanting. 

last year it was  $1200 out the door for 6 ferrets.

[msav]

Jan 4, 2017 16:31:18 GMT -5 LindaM said:

I'm luckily enough that where I live rabies vac isn't required annually, except for my cat that is. My boy and girl need to get their first and final rabies injections in the coming month. Loki got his one and only distemper last month, Athena still needs hers. I don't count the shots they give as kits, they're so young and will still have the mother's antibodies to fight it off, so you can't be sure they even take. But because of the risk involved, mine get vaccinated for both only once.

Distemper seems to be the vaccine that causes the most concern and horrid effects compared to the rabies one though. We sat a full hour after the distemper shot in the vet waiting room to be sure Loki was taking to it alright without any side effects and kept a close eye on him the remainder of the day as well, thankfully he took it very well and we had no awful side effects.

I had Titers ran an my first 2 babies and they came back negative. SO either they don't take or they don't actually give them a shot like they say they do.

I also live where they require Rabies, but they are inside ferrets and are not going to interact with anyone else besides us. I also heard about the distemper reactions. But only ever had an issue with reactions with the rabies Vaccine with one ferret.

 

[LindaM]

msav Thanks, that's good to know. My gib is just over 1.5 yrs old now, and my newest addition, my little sprite is about 6 months old now.

I'll talk to our vet in the area and see if they do the implants, or I might have to do a bit of a drive for another vet.

How long do your implants last? You said yearly, so is yours an annual one? The most I've read about are something like a 6 month implant.

[Heather]

The implant for prevention has to be renewed annually. When used for adrenal it has to be renewed every 6 months. It has been suggested that one implants at the end of the season in your local when used as a preventative measure. In my area if I was going to implant a juvenile then I would implant around September. It is suggested that if one is going to implant as a preventative, one should do this before the ferret's first birthday.
ciao

[msav]

Like Heather said I treat them every year.  It was tough a couple years ago. I had to push the implant 2 months late due the the implants not being available. 

Last year I had a heck of a time finding a vet in my area who would do the implant on a non-adrenal Ferret. Most refused to implant unless they were diagnosed. I had to bring in The research on prevention to convince the vet to do them last time.

In my area there is not many ferret knowledgeable vets. Most did not even know what Des implants were. I had to explain it to them. I had to tell them it is the same procedure as putting a microchip in a ferret.

I must have contacted about 30 vets, Most stopped me when I said the word Ferret "We don't treat ferrets"

I hope this vet does not stop practicing, otherwise I will be back to the phone again looking for a vet.

[LindaM]

Heather Since Loki is already a year and a half old, but shows no signs of adrenal yet, should I still try to get him implanted as a preventative? What about Athena? She will be having her first birthday in this coming July.

[Lily]

Majority of my exotic vets don't vaccinate ferrets until it's entirely needed. For example, if you have multiple animals in the house that consistently go outside your home (For ex. a dog), then they recommend it. Ferrets tend to react more often to vaccines than dogs and cats do, so most vets I find only do it when necessary.

If you take them out often, especially the woods, I would treat with Revolution particularly during the summer. Summer is when fleas and ticks get very bad. I typically find one flea on my ferrets about once a year, so I regularly treat them during warmer seasons as a preventative.

As for the implant, I haven't used it before myself because none of my ferrets have been adrenal (super lucky!) but my vet did say fixing at an appropriate age (Not at 2 months like Marshall does) can help reduce chances of adrenal disease.

[Deleted]

I know ferrets are more reactive, I had to spend quite some time at the vet chilling in the waiting room playing with my babies to make sure they didn't react to the rabies vaccines, it used to drive my mom crazy, haha. I do live with multiple dogs, cats, live stock, and spend a lot of time outdoors anyways, plus I love going out and about in public with ferrets, I love introducing them to other people to help get rid of the silly stigma people have against them...so in short, for me it's very practical to make sure they have their vaccinations.

Of course dogs only need a rabies shot every 3 years, you think it'd be the same for ferrets

I called my favorite ferret-savvy vet and they will do the yearly implant, so that is something I am definitely going to invest in if I am unable to get a kit from a breeder.

Good to know Revolution is ferret safe! I used to use it on my rats whenever they had issues with mites and it worked splendidly.

[LindaM]

@kingofcrows Some places actually require by law that dogs and cats to get a yearly vaccination for things like rabies and distemper (canine/feline). Which is incredibly bad, as most vaccines can cause a bad reaction in them too. I think here in Utah, it's every 3 years though, but it's law that my cat needs to get his vaccines done, even though he fears ever going out onto the outside balcony and runs to hide in a bathroom if even family visit us, lol.

I'm lucky that my vet understands the risk of vaccinations and is fine with me doing the once off and never again (unless we move and get forced by law). Her experience has been that after the first shot, every subsequent shot increased the risk of a negative reaction. So while a ferret may not have a reaction on their first time, or even second or third, chances are they very well could still have a severe negative side effect on any of those or later shots. And as most ferrets live 7-10 years, and most vaccines generally last at least 7-10 years, one vaccine should last a lifetime for them.

Sadly, yes, some states do require a yearly ferret rabies vaccine. I really hope we never move to where we'd need to do that to our ferrets, I'd be so scared every single time, waiting for that one time too many.

[Deleted]

NY laws are strange on rabies vaccines (they don't require distemper, since it's not a very common thing up here). Cats and dogs every three years, ferrets, horses, cows, and other livestock once a year.

However, since my vet is understanding (in fact she recommends against the annual vaccine, haha), I think instead I'll go with one vaccine and just do an annual titer tests instead. The only reason I could get into legal trouble would be if my ferret bite someone in public and broke skin, but I have always taken great care to avoid ever putting an animal into the situation where that could happen.