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Post by joclyn on Feb 14, 2011 17:38:38 GMT -5
rabies is necessary if it's mandated by law where you live. some places require it for ferrets and others don't. here in pa it's not mandated by the state - the county i live does mandate it though, so, i have to do it.
for distemper, do the initial series, making sure to do it on schedule, and then do the booster 1 year after the initial shot and the ferret should have sufficient coverage for at least 2 years, if not more. if the initial series is not done properly, then they may not develop the proper coverage and you may need to booster again at the second year.
some of my rescues did not get the initial series properly and still don't have sufficient coverage - even after getting shots yearly i'm hoping to see decent titers this year, though.
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Post by joan on Feb 14, 2011 19:28:19 GMT -5
Joclyn, I'd be curious as to what you consider proper for the initial series. The only reason to give more than one shot to a kit is that maternal immunity wears off at different rates. Several of the show breeders give shots at 12 and 16 weeks, which may still be too early. The problem with giving a shot while there is still maternity immunity is that it may interfere with a later shot, as it seems that they will never develop any more immunity than they did to the initial shot which was effective.
Every shot given impacts the immune system negatively, so I'd rather err on the side of caution. For that reason, I don't give any shots until the kits are 18 weeks old and that's it...the immune system is fully mature at that age and boosters are not necessary. I've often wondered how many of the diseases which are so common in ferrets are a direct result of impaired immune systems stressed by vaccines given too early and too often.
l
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Post by Heather on Feb 14, 2011 22:15:53 GMT -5
I like your theory Joan. That has to be the most sensible form of vaccinations I've heard in a long time. I've always wondered why the need for multiple vaccinations (I understood the "not" knowing when the mother's maternal antibodies no longer protect the infant fuzz but why not just wait, be more careful) I don't vaccinate, but if I did...this is how I would do it. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2011 22:39:26 GMT -5
Yes, I definitely believe this is the way to go. I might have vaccinated my girls too early (2-4 months old) so I might get some titers done and go from there. If I had the info I do now, I would have waited to vaccinate until they were older.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 14, 2011 22:51:27 GMT -5
Although they aren't ever vaccinated for rabies in the pet stores here, they do come already vaccinated for distemper before they are allowed to be adopted out. And Petland, in this city anyway, will do the followup vaccinations if they are in the stores long enough for that.
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Post by Heather on Feb 14, 2011 23:06:50 GMT -5
Unfortunately, those distemper shots (same as marshals) were given at such an early age that their maternal antibodies were probably still in effect, thus nullifying the shot. They would be further ahead not to give a distemper shot at all. That is why there have been instances where baby ferrets have actually come down with distemper. That vaccine that was given to them was a big waste of time. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2011 23:33:30 GMT -5
And money. The exact time the maternal antibodies wears off isn't really known, so you're better off isolating your baby until they are older and giving the shot then. But try telling that to marshalls
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Post by Heather on Feb 15, 2011 2:50:12 GMT -5
You wouldn't. You couldn't.....As many have tried to convince Marshals and other ferret farms not to ship baby ferts at such a young age. How would you ever convince them not to vaccinate considering it's probably a concession granted to these farms to allow them to ship at this young age . ciao
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Post by karasufyre on Feb 15, 2011 13:51:48 GMT -5
I never considered that I wouldn't be allowed to adopt from a shelter because of what I would feed them. Is it pretty common for shelters to be anti-natural diet? Cause there are several ferret shelters in my city, so I was hoping to be able to rescue some fuzzies from them. Hmph.
And since ya'll are talking about it, how much is a titer? [or an average price if it varies?]
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Post by Heather on Feb 15, 2011 14:00:08 GMT -5
The shelter nearest me, is pro raw. I will place to a good raw home. I can't vouch for Ottawa (which is the closest shelter on the other side of me, ferret type). I would make enquiries. That's all you can do. If there are several shelters within your city then check them out. I know that the humane society director in our area is pro-raw...so I don't think it's the shelters as a whole but the people who are running them. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2011 18:00:01 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2011 4:28:55 GMT -5
I am surprised Candice hasn't popped in here. She just went though all of this. I beleive she had terrible luck finding any shelter that would allow you to adopt if you feed raw. Somehow I missed this thread... probably because it was V-Day and we were holed up with movies through the cold. Yes, I have had an unending horror story with the ferret shelters here. I'm in the Pacific NW, Vancouver, WA (basically 5 minutes from Northern Oregon). There are 4 ferret rescues/shelters within a 5 hour radius of me and ALL of them have contracts you must sign stating you will feed only a commercially approved dry ferret food, and must vaccinate yearly. I'm not even going to get into the state that one shelter is in. I've seen it first-hand. They all also do a home visit a year after the adoption, if they can find out you're not doing what they require, they reserve the right as per the contract to remove the ferret. I suppose one could be dishonest and sign it anyway, have dehydrated food in a bowl when they came, but that still raises a lot of fears for me. It also raises the question of, "Should I monetarily support a shelter so adamantly against alternative health practices?" If enough of us stick together in one area and network carefully we may very well be able to rescue/foster without such restraints on our own.
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