Can Someone Help Me?

[Heather]

Congratulations
ciao

[Sherry]

Wow- congratulations

[Deleted]

believe me, its a job that a person with a degree should have and Im JUST getting my associates. Wish me the best of luck.

The clinic does do the implantation while I wait...so should I add this clinic to the "best vet" list?

[Sherry]

Definitely! And it's not just "best vet", but ferret savvy vets who are needed to be in there. Pro raw and things like des are simply plusses ;D

[Deleted]

well they sounded ferret-savvy..guess its not the same as knowing that they are...They sounded excited that i was so knowledgable. I asked how they felt about raw, and while they didnt say they hated it outright, they say that they're more concerned about the health of the ferret, and that included nutrition, and no matter the diet, they were open about it. So..

I guess..now that i think about it, they're tiptoeing around the actual answer that i want, but it sounded like they were open to raw, they just weren't major fans...

vv The specific statement I received on raw from them vv

We work closely with our clients to ensure that whatever diet they are feeding, it is nutritionally complete and appropriate, and we are always happy to offer our advice and assistance.

Yeah, sounds open but not a definite. *sigh* Okay, we'll see


**Lately i felt like im a nuisance...like i correspond with people over ferret stuff, sometimes like, over 16 emails in one day, questioning everything and their reasoning. O.o Those poor people...some of the vets and the suppliers of ferret items are such good sports...especially this one vet clinic...

[Deleted]

I did not read all this - I do have a question....
is your ferret a baby that has started the distemper baby series?

If so, you really need to finish the series and either check titer levels when the annual booster is due Or just give the annual booster.

The reason for this is that the baby series can conflict with the mother's immunities leaving your ferret more vunerable than no vaccination at all.

As already mentioned, do not get the rabies at the same time. I never give rabies, but I don't let people near my ferrets. The point is that you can put off the rabies shout, if you're going to do it.

One thing at a time - no implants with vaccines (as already mentioned)

If the poops look good, you can wait on this as well (if you need to save up money)

The MOST CRITICAL thing here is to get through the baby series of distemper shots if the series has been started. These shots are spaced out for a reason, and interrupting/not completing the series and checking titers or getting 1 annual booster can leave your ferret's immune system in a bad state.

-jennifer

[Deleted]

Uhm, well, for one, breeder ferrets as far as I know don't typically give the shots just yet?? so i was curious, but if I can't get a breeder ferret, its off to the pet shop. So you have to go with the baby series distemper? Why? Somebody here (don't know who) said that somebody only needs to give one distemper at 18 weeks after getting a ferret from a pet shop (if they got vaccinated at 6-8 weeks).

Like it was distemper at 18 weeks and then rabies at 26 weeks?

[Deleted]

Congrats on your new promotion!!
As fas as the shots...I never finished his distemper. He had the first 2, and then I was gonna get him the 3rd, but the vet didn't have it. I'm in Cali, so most vets (even "exotic") don't carry the ferret approved distemper. Their reasoning was that they have to order in bulk, and most just goes bad, cuz' there are not much ferrets (I read it somewhere that some supplier sells the most ferret stuff to Cali, hence they r illegal...lol).
I don't do rabies... The odds that he's gonna catch it.... not much. And I hate vaccines anyways
Although my dog Bruno gets the rabies, cuz' it's a stupid county ordinance... So I can't do anything about it. But that's the only one he gets. I am getting a titer test done though this summer, to see how his levels are.

[Deleted]

what -is- a titer test anyways? how do you get one done?

[Heather]

A titer test is just a blood test.
Here is an article that explains what a titer is
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003333.htm
One of the things to remember is that a low titer or reading doesn't mean that you're not covered, it just means that your immunity hasn't recently be challenged.
I for the most part do not vaccinate. I wouldn't subject any of my animals to a vaccine before 16 to 18 weeks. The reason for the multiple vaccines is that we don't know when the mother's antibodies stop working in the babies. If you give a vaccine and the mother's antibodies are still functioning the vaccine will nullify the mother's antibodies but in doing so, it also removes the vaccines effects too. Hence the multiple vaccines at 8 to 16 weeks. This is a just in case factor. If you wait until the mother's antibodies are gone, then you can vaccinate once and it's done. You cannot boost the immune system, it either recognises the threat or not. If you've given a vaccine and there is no reading for the titer then there will be no immunity and you can vaccinate over and over again but there will still be no immunity. My niece is a perfect example of this. She's had the chicken pox vaccine 3 times...she's had the chicken pox 4 times and she will continue to get it every time she comes in contact. Why? Because a doctor in his infinite wisdom believed that he could cure her chicken pox with a vaccine. He destroyed her immunity . You will have to do your own study on this topic. It's a very personal subject. You will get a wide range of theories and concepts. For me it was a journey that covered many years and much study. In the end I've chosen my path. I do not vaccinate, minimally if I absolutely must....but for the most part...I do not. None of my present ferrets have ever been vaccinated except by whatever was given by their previous people. My dog and cats are not vaccinated either. This is not something you can enter lightly. You must weigh what you're willing to risk. My idea on vaccinating might change minimally if I lived in a high risk area. I would still only do what is the barest minimum. The one thing to remember a vaccine does not stop something from happening. It only allows the body a better chance to recognise a disease. It does not cure or prevent a disease from happening. It's a tool to help the body recognise a risk and hopefully mount a defence before the bacteria or virus overruns the body. As long as one is aware that is all it does then one can make a critical decision to give or not to give a vaccine. JMO

ciao

[Deleted]

heather, it must have been you I heard it from. Weren't you the one talking to alex about the distemper and the rabies vaccine??

Alex said he was going to try 18 and 26 weeks respectively, and I agreed with that and was going to do that.

And thats very true. I got chicken pox vaccine....and i had the chicken pox TWICE. (within four years of each other)

I wasn't supposed to have it more than once.

But anyways, remarkably, I hardly ever get the flu.

What i do get is usually a medical condition that pops up later in life (like nystagmus ) or a really bad case of the colds (usually every seasonal change, regardless of how similar the weather is.

So...i will definitely be careful with the ferrets during then.

[Heather]

Could have been....I've given my vaccine rant many times
Look one thing to remember is....do not "not vaccinate" because you think it will save you money. I've had people consider that if they don't have to vaccinate, that it will save them money. I've had people investigate titers instead of vaccinating and then get angry when they discover that titers will cost you two to three times the cost of the vaccines. There are no shortcuts. If your furchild comes down with the disease the cost to cure if it can be cured is horrendous...often in the thousands with the possible loss of life anyway. The thing to weigh and I've gone through this angst many times, is the chance of my furchild getting the disease vs the cost of injecting toxins (mercury to name one) into my furchild and the side effects that go with it, as well as any reactions. Ever seen a ferret in the throws of a vaccine reaction???Can you imagine watching your little one bleeding to death from every orifice, or going into unstoppable seizures, or complete respiratory arrest and the vets are unable to do anything. I figure if a vet cannot save their own prize ferret, then there will be little any vet who rarely treats ferrets can do.....our little ones suffer enough problems with lymphomas and cancers and other tumours....do we really want to add vaccinosis to this stew pot that we've created......The other side of the coin... have you ever seen a ferret with distemper?? Many ferrets are blindly vaccinated for years with little to no apparent damage. Just for the record, even with the vaccine they still get distemper. Their chances of surviving the distemper is higher but they still suffer from the neurological damage that it causes and often have to be put down anyway.
Know your risks....investigate...don't be a sheep Make your own decisions, know when you must bend. My wee ones are not kept in cotton wool in my house. They're outside all the time. Like I mentioned, I've done a lot of studying, been a member of novax forums and lists. Make an informed decision. Good luck
ciao

[Deleted]

This is a good book: Shock to the System by Catherine O'Driscoll

But yea, it's definitely a controversial topic...

[Deleted]

I did do some medical research, but most of it was by the vets and i can't necessarily trust vets because they could be in it for the money (and most were pro vaccine anyways)...

What if the vaccine was every other year or three? Is that a better option? or is just once enough?

this vet agreed sort of with Heather.
www.2ndchance.info/fervacs.htm

[Heather]

Unfortunately, there are no studies (the article is correct)...why should they. If they tell you that the vaccine is good for a year what financial benefit does the manufacturer get by telling you to vaccinate every other year or every three years (by the way if you think that corporate drug companies think about anything beyond the bottom line??). What benefit does the vet have? The theory is that once your body recognises a virus it doesn't forget (it's not like us oldtimers ;D) Theoretically, once you've given this vaccine it shouldn't have to be given again...ever. To be safe, you should probably titer and see if it reads at all. A lot of people read it that if the titer is below a certain point then you should vaccinate again. The only time you should vaccinate again, is if there is no titer response, but then it might just prove that your fuzz will never respond at all. Remember, this is all theory and not a lot of proof. Like raw feeding, there is no financial gain to only give one vaccine. I just send my little ones to go play with someone who vaccinates and has done it recently. The distemper vaccine, same as the rabies "throws" the virus...and will stimulate a raised titer showing that the body recognises the virus. For example....my pyr received his last rabies vaccine at 2. It was the 3 yr vaccine so that meant I didn't have to vaccinate again until 5. By that point in time I was already researching. I had him titered. He showed a strong titer so I opted out. He was a therapy dog, so it was requested that we get our dogs vaccinated annually. I refused but agreed to titer, they agreed to allow it. The last titer I did on him was at 10 yrs of age (I would never, ever vaccinate an old animal a pyr at 10 is an ancient animal) His titer was still reading an acceptable level. That's 9 yrs without any vaccines. Napoleon was the only ferret I ever titered. The only vaccine he ever had was the first of the kit series given by the ferret farm he came from. So, 1 distemper. His titer at 2 was still reading positive...why would I even consider vaccinating. The problem is titering is expensive. It runs about $250 a pop. If I had some extra cash to throw around, I would titer my wolfhound. He's never had any vaccines. His mother has never had a vaccine. His grandmother only had import vaccines...rabies. He's raw fed by 3 generations. Does that make a difference. No idea...but maybe it helps .
ciao