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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2011 13:15:51 GMT -5
Has anyone ever experienced their ferret getting pancreatitis due to either treatment? What sorts of negative reactions have you experienced (i.e. allergic? other side effects?) Thanks.
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Post by Sherry on Dec 10, 2011 15:30:22 GMT -5
Never heard of it til you mentioned it. And no, never had any problems other than a day or so of them being more tired than usual when they get their lupron every month.
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Post by Heather on Dec 10, 2011 18:46:55 GMT -5
I've used both lupron and des. I prefer the des but that's just that it's worked more often for me than the lupron. As far as reactions....none, except some lethargy after the lupron. The guys on the des...it's like offering them a new lease on life and within the week their activity levels are up. Lady "B" was the one that I thought at first that wasn't going to respond and even she didn't suffer any ill effects, she just didn't bounce up like the rest. She took a full 6 weeks to respond but her recouperation was every bit as profound as the others when it finally started to work for her
ciao
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Post by miamiferret2 on Dec 10, 2011 22:07:24 GMT -5
I have been using des for over 2 years in ferrets. No problems. I've been using lupron for years for Adrenal & never any issues. The only thing is that you see an initial hormone spike during first 14 days with deslorelin. Some people report that the first week after des they see low blood glucose in their ferrets. Of course, older kibble fed ferrets that are not quite showing signs of insulinoma would be more at risk.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Dec 10, 2011 22:09:52 GMT -5
And FYI, I used des on a 6.5 year old (initial implant) with insulinoma & he did not have an insulinoma crash. Then again, he had been on lupron for over a year before that. That is prob why he didn't show any of that after his first des implant.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2011 22:50:29 GMT -5
I would recommend testing glucose on kibble-fed ferrets (ferrets hta have eaten a lot of kibble over the years) before implanting ferrets that are older(4 ears and older) and/or befor implanting a severely adrenal ferret
Any of the treatments for adrenal, including melatonin, des., lupron can affect blood sugar levels.
I donated 3 Des. implants for use on shelter ferrets. 3 really bad adrenal cases were implanted,and nt survived longer than months post implantation. The ferrets were 3 -4 years old, but all 3 were in REALLY ROUGH shape when they were given the implants.
-jennifer
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Post by miamiferret2 on Dec 10, 2011 23:22:30 GMT -5
Well, I guess it is rare but has happened with lupron & des! (Pancreatitis). So yeah, I guess if your vet wants to test them with lupron first he's just being cautious. If they don't have a reaction to lupron then they should be good.  pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/message/11588 |
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Post by miamiferret2 on Dec 11, 2011 14:48:36 GMT -5
I know of several older kibble fed ferrets that had insulinoma type crashes during first few days after the deslorelin was put in. one of the shelter moms i have spoken to has said that several of her older ferrets with advanced adrenal have not faired well after their first implants. then again, these shelter ferrets are all kibble fed as far as I know. i make sure that my ferrets eat alot of high protein meals after being implanted just in case. but i would not worry with a raw fed ferret & especially a younger ferret. i found this on ferretsanon.com/CLIFFNotes/Vol6No16.html (Barbara Carlson has used deslorelin on alot of her shelter ferrets) More on Ferret Adrenal Surgery: Regarding last week's letter - For ferrets who can have surgery, the surgery is the only actual cure … In my experience, surgery is NOT a cure. I think even my vet would agree with that. If you take out the bad side, the other side goes, requiring another surgery. If you go back in and take the second one out (if it isn’t wrapped around the vena cava), then they can end up with Addison’s Disease, which is more immediately fatal (if not treated) than adrenal disease is. I’ve owned ferrets for 25 years, and found adrenal surgery to be an unsatisfactory treatment. True, the Deslorelin implant doesn’t always work (and make sure when you say “implant” that you are indeed talking about the Deslorelin/Suprelorin implant and not something else), but it works better than anything else I’ve tried so far. It seems to work best when used early in the disease, it does seem to slow down the tumor growth, and for ferrets treated early, it seems to help keep it from turning cancerous (or at least delays it until the ferret is much older). For a significant number of ferrets, the implant really seems to turn back the clock. Faded silvers get their color back, and with it, their health and energy. I’m sure more research needs to be done, and some vets are working on a possible adrenal vaccination to prevent the disease in the first place, but for right now, the implants seem to work the best, especially early in the disease. Barb Carlson |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2011 21:02:18 GMT -5
When I implanted my two girls, they both already had insulinoma. The Dr said that sometimes they see sudden appearance or worsening of existing insulinoma after implanting adrenal ferrets. He said this is because when they are adrenal, the body is overproducing cortisone (or something like it, I may be remembering the wrong word) and that helps suppress or treat insulinoma. It may look like a sudden appearance but was silently forming all along. Once the adrenal is treated and the body no longer overproduces that cortisone, the insulinoma is left no longer in check and becomes apparent.
In a nutshell, my understanding is that no it doesn't cause insulinoma but it can cause preexisting issues to show up, since adrenal symptoms that actually help lessen the effects of insulinoma are stopped by the injections/implant.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Dec 11, 2011 21:22:31 GMT -5
When I implanted my two girls, they both already had insulinoma. The Dr said that sometimes they see sudden appearance or worsening of existing insulinoma after implanting adrenal ferrets. He said this is because when they are adrenal, the body is overproducing cortisone (or something like it, I may be remembering the wrong word) and that helps suppress or treat insulinoma. It may look like a sudden appearance but was silently forming all along. Once the adrenal is treated and the body no longer overproduces that cortisone, the insulinoma is left no longer in check and becomes apparent. In a nutshell, my understanding is that no it doesn't cause insulinoma but it can cause preexisting issues to show up, since adrenal symptoms that actually help lessen the effects of insulinoma are stopped by the injections/implant. i am always amazed at how much we learn about these ferret diseases as we go along. this makes perfect sense. since hearing about this issue with older kibble fed ferrets having insulinoma crashes after des implants, I realize that I have experienced this myself after starting lupron on my adrenal ferrets! of course, these ferrets were over 4 yrs old and kibble fed their whole lives! the islet tumors were in their pancreas, but they were not showing outward signs. they did not start showing signs of insulinoma until after I started the lupron! everyone always talks about how adrenal and insulinoma "go hand in hand." well, I guess the medications to suppress one disease will expose the other! makes perfect sense. as a matter of fact, my last insulinomic/adrenal ferret (Lemmy) his insulinoma was diagnosed shortly after we started his monthly lupron injections.  |
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Post by Sherry on Dec 12, 2011 11:02:54 GMT -5
Thanks Oskimosa! I remember reading this quite a while ago on the health list, but had forgotten it entirely.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2011 19:14:25 GMT -5
You're welcome! I'm just glad I was able to explain it and make any sense. It's a tough combo to deal with at any rate  |
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Post by sherik on Dec 12, 2011 21:09:22 GMT -5
So that also explains why ferrets that are on prednisolone for long periods of time get the appearance of having adrenal.
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Post by Heather on Dec 12, 2011 21:49:11 GMT -5
So that's why Fun-Go along with his pred belly....almost looks adrenal. He's carrying a fair bit of coat but oddly (his belly is naked  ) but he's carrying good coat along his hips and tail and across his shoulders. He also is not responding to melatonin. My biggest fear (because he's controlled at the moment) is I will upset everything if I get him implanted with some Des It would be even worse if he's not adrenal at all and I loose him because I thought he was adrenal and I upset the fine balance ciao |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2011 10:56:44 GMT -5
Well.... I don't think it should be dangerous to implant a non-adrenal ferret. Because if they aren't overproducing the cortisone to begin with, the implant wont have anything to stop. It's also a great preventative. However, if it turns out that he IS adrenal, and you implant him, I think you would have to start upping the meds. Maybe combine the pred with the diazoxide. That's the only thing working for one of my ferrets.
My thing is, based on my boy's situation, if the insulinoma is so bad and aggressive that the meds aren't helping much, that a ferret in that position might not last long enough to benefit from the implant. I guess it sounds bad, but when adrenal is a slower killer than insulinoma and treating the adrenal will make an already bad case of insulinoma worse, you really have to choose between two evils.
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) but he's carrying good coat along his hips and tail and across his shoulders. He also is not responding to melatonin. My biggest fear (because he's controlled at the moment) is I will upset everything if I get him implanted with some Des