Kinga got yearly vaccines/no reaction/but not looking well

[nannah]

OK my 5yo (estimated) ferret went in today to the vet to get her yearly checkup. She got her yearly distemper shot & rabies vaccine. She got pretty nauseous so they gave her a cerenia injectible.

now she's back home, but completely limp. she does not respond to anything; pooped herself. I pick her up and her head lolls without support.

she's not showing signs of a reaction to the vaccine (swollen face; hives, etc.), but I'm REALLY worried. so i'm wondering is there a good reason to be worried or am i just overworrying like usual ?? should I call an emergency vet (bc my regular one is closed now) to check it out? she's never done this before or had this type of reaction!! I'm freaking out. I know they can be a bit lethargic but this is just !!!

oh, btw, she also has signs of adrenal disease, so a couple months ago she got a deslorelin implant. idk if that changes anything, but I just wanted to be sure i covered anything. 

thank you for reading.

[peacexlovexpets]

If she is listless/unresponsive to handling, yes, bring her to the ER vet.

Most ER vets cost $100+ just to check in, but I'm sure your noodle is worth more than that to you. I recently had a bad run in with vaccines, so it doesn't hurt to be over cautious in these situations.


How long have you had your noodle and has it been vaccinated before? Has it been to the same vet before? Has anything else in its environment changes?


If you can, maybe try and syringe feed your noodle a bit of powerade or pedialyte-yes, they aren't "good" for ferrets, but it should give them a little boost in energy so they can tell you how they are feeling (I prefer the powerade in low energy situations as the sugar gets them jumping, and the pedialyte in potential dehydration/diarrhea situations to keep ions balanced).

[nannah]

SHOOT. I missed this reply. I just called the vet (and ghefhghe, my relationship & trust w/ him is ... not the greatest).
But he said if she wasn't showing signs of actual allergic reactions to the shots (i.e. hives and swelling of the face with vomiting) then she would be okay and it's probably just stress from the appointment. ... but ?? It's still really freaking me out.

So Kinga has actually thrown up and gotten stressed out from being at the vet before, but it was just a simple matter of throwing up (...eating it...) and then being just fine afterwards. And that all took place at the vet. it was NOTHING like this.

So it's about an hr and a half since we've been to the vet initially. she's able to walk around a Little, but she doesn't actually like me holding her. she wants to go to a safe, dark place with her brother right now and sleep. Do you think maybe that's just stress or should i take her in and like ... MAKE the dude look at her?

[peacexlovexpets]

I am not an experienced veterinarian-but I am experienced pet owner. If she appears listless post vaccination, she may be in need of epinepherine. Listlessness could be caused by a complement (innate immune system) response, but it can be countered via epinepherine. I wouldn't take the chance-listlessness can be a leading sign to a far more serious future response. Make sure you keep an eye on her and look at her mucous membranes (gums) and her skin tent (check her CRT-press a finger to her gums to drive out the blood, and then remove it and count how long it takes for the blood to return, should be less than 2 seconds). If it is greater than 2 seconds, she may be experiencing shock and may need fluids.

As I said before-it may cost money, but it doesn't hurt her to bring her to an emergency clinic that knows a thing or two about ferrets or even cats (if the case is serious enough).

Does the local emergency vet know ferrets? If not, I would (if feasible) try and go a little further to reach an experience ferret ER.



For the stress of the visit: do you have another ferret that can come with for emotional support? I have found that it helps a lot with cats and small pets if they go with a buddy. Also, bring your own blanket for the table they are putting the ferret on (familiar smell) and your own treats! If at all possible, you can ask the vet if you can work as the "tech" and restrain your ferret during the examination, as this can be stressful for your ferret and most techs don't know how to do it right anyways.

[Charlie]

Usually distemper and rabies shouldn't be given on the same day. They usually recommend 2 weeks between shots at least.

I know for dogs and cats rabies only need to be every 3 years.

[Heather]

I"m sorry....but that it a vaccine reaction and you need to deal with it. This is shock and whatever went wrong, is going wrong can and will cause damage. Vomiting, swelling of face are all reactions to the vaccine, so is listlessness, so is ataxia, lethargy, non-responsive, arrhythmia. I would have been at the vet the instant my ferret was limp and unresponsive. I had an absolute set out with a vet who told me my cat's, complete organ failure after a vaccine was not a reaction to the vaccine but my fault that she must have been poisoned. No, he didn't vomit or get hives, his reaction was dropped respiration and neurological. He spent 3 days hooked up to IV and according to the vet this wasn't a reaction but was given diphenhydramine (benedryl). He was never the same again and I've been very cautious about vaccines ever since
ciao

[nannah]

Update: 4/9/19:
my vet ... doesn't know that much. at least the male vet. it's hard getting an appt with the owner of the clinic (woman vet), who at least is willing to learn more about ferrets as we go along. i brought her back down (sorry for not updating!!) but he said nothing "appeared to be wrong", so just sent me home.

month later, basically, she's not eating in the evenings, but eats normally at breakfast. she's sometimes active! but is just ... a lot more sluggish than what I'd consider normal for her. she never really had that "dead ferret sleep" until now either, and she does it quite often! -->> all of this started after that dang shot a month ago. but is this just part of her adrenal disease? she got the first Deslorelin implant last fall. and we had agreed to get the next one this spring (but again ... no word from the vet when that'll be, so I'll probably have to push them to do it again ...).

otherwise there's a (holistic) vet clinic i could go to 50mins away that I think would be nicer? I can't drive though atm but but maybe ... establish some sort of relationship w/ them until I'm able to or get a ride?

but like ... is this the adrenal disease or something else?

[Heather]

There is something terribly wrong. Why did you get the DES implant in the fall? I'm guessing adrenal? She will have needed it 6 months from the date she got it the first time. This could be part of the problem. No vet calls to update the DES, that's your responsibility. They consider a year, I don't know why as this only is for preventative measures. I would definitely DES to see if this helps. Please make sure you do a BG first, to make sure it's within the normal ranges. If your vet isn't a ferret vet then make sure you know what the norms are. You are going to be your ferret's first responder. I've been doing this for years. That's knowing basically what you're looking at before you go in and telling your vet what you think you need. They're the source of various methods of detection but if they don't normally see ferrets they won't know what they're looking at. Some vets get upset by this, I just move on and find another. I never vaccinate past the first (rabies and or distemper), their systems can't take it but that's your personal choice. If you were treating for adrenal, definitely get the DES after you've tested for possible insulinoma. If your clear, see if the DES helps your little one
ciao

[nannah]

Yes, I got the DES implant because I'm treating adrenal disease.
and OH, I didn't know they don't call to schedule the implant. That's good to know. I checked, and I still have some months to go for the implant.

yeah, my vets get annoyed when i tell them stuff they don't (but should) know about ferrets. we've struggled with it so far, but I'm not sure how much of it they can take.

I think for the moment, I'm going to check Kinga's blood sugar and go from there ...
thank you SO MUCH for the help.

Also though, what do you mean you never vaccinate past the first rabies &/or distemper?

[Sherry]

Poor girl. Yeah, she had a pretty severe reaction to her double shots. Another thing your vet didn't tell you is rabies/distemper absolutely NEED to be done at least 2 weeks apart to help prevent reactions like this Not much you can do after this amount of time, but she can never have another vaccine. She likely won't make it if she does.

[Heather]

If I do rabies or distemper (usually import only) but when I do, I only do once in a lifetime. I also space the vaccines, distemper at 6 months and rabies at a year. My vets have often recommended not doing the rabies at all for the damage it does with little to no benefit. The only safeguard it's worth is if your ferret bites someone. Your ferret has 0 chance of surviving a contact. I would as you do prefer to vaccinate, is to titer your ferrets, especially this wee one as it's now going to react to the vaccine whenever you give it and it only gets worse. Hopefully, the wee one's immune system will recover with time.
ciao

[unclejoe]

When I take a new ferret to a vet, they always suggest rabies vax because it's supposedly required by law. I don't do it. They understand why. If I hear there is a distemper outbreak in the area, my ferrets don't go out in public. CDV vax wasn't even readily available for a couple years. Ferrets are not dogs. They are pretty fragile, physiologically. Their average lifespan in the wild is less than 3 years. I'm gonna do what I can to extend that as long as possible, and vaccinating against a disease they have about zero chance of getting is off the list of things that need done

[nannah]

Wow. I NEVER knew about any of this (about vaccines). not in any of the books I read, word of mouth by other owners, etc. this clinic wouldn't listen to me if I tried to convince them about these vaccines, like at ALL. I can tell you that right now.

so I think I'm going to switch vets to the holistic one, even if it's a drive; I really don't care.
meanwhile, I'm going to search these forums and read more on the vaccines. thank you guys so much for this.