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Post by Thérèse on Jul 28, 2014 5:23:33 GMT -5
Just want to wish you luck. I still think of Rolo as the sweet kit you brought home. That he's now at an age where this is happening, is kind of unreal. Hope you find treatment helps
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2014 22:17:54 GMT -5
No new pictures, but the SPEED of the hair loss is absolutely incredible.... his pink tummy is shockingly visible now... I was wondering if I had managed not to notice it at first, but now I'm sure this must have only started just over a week ago. (Few days before my first post.)
Thursday can't come soon enough - I wish I'd been able to take him in today, and it's really just frustrating to watch his fur disappear and to have to wait to do anything about it.
(The vet was booked full today, and I can't go in tomorrow or wednesday as I work during the clinic hours.)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2014 22:25:56 GMT -5
Just want to wish you luck. I still think of Rolo as the sweet kit you brought home. That he's now at an age where this is happening, is kind of unreal. Hope you find treatment helps Thanks I still think of him as my little baby too, and he still acts like it, just a bit sleepier and tired than usual. He doesn't really know he's sick yet and he's just as sweet as ever. I'm really hoping the implant will stop this in its tracks, and at least give him a few more years of war dancing. I'll post an update once I've seen the vet on thursday once we start treatment.
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Post by Thérèse on Jul 29, 2014 7:02:37 GMT -5
With Diablo, it came on fast too, although in a different manner. He had no hair loss but was lethargic and lost muscle mass very quickly.
Be aware that the suprelorin (des to you) can take some time to kick in. My 2 experiences with it were different. The first one (for Noodles who did have hair loss as well as losing weight, lethargy etc) stopped things getting any worse pretty much immediately but he did not regrow his fur until his next shed. He never regained the weight. With Diablo, I was waiting for it to kick in (knowing it can often take a month or so) but he was going downhill too fast and no longer even enjoying laying in the sun, so 2 weeks after getting the implant I had him put to sleep because I could not make him endure a further 2 weeks (maybe longer) when he had no joy in anything.
Am hoping the implant works quickly for Rolo and you still have many happy years together
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Post by Sherry on Jul 29, 2014 9:00:02 GMT -5
It really can happen that fast. With Zeus we knew he was adrenal(he'd been on monthly lupron), but one day it seemed he'd lost most of the fur on his throat and belly virtually overnight. It was quite shocking. Get Rolo his des and in about a month get the melatonin implant as well. Those work really well together.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 18:38:24 GMT -5
I'm so sorry that Rolo may have Adrenal, it's tough when our babies get sick :\ My Juliet has Adrenal, she's one of the few that have it and has no hair loss. Jules has the thickest fur out of all the ferrets I've had actually. She has the melatonin and it works for her but I will be getting the Des as soon as I can, because the Deslorelin does better at actually treating the disease, the melatonin is more cosmetic. You seem like you love Rolo very much, he's lucky to have you as his momma And from what I've heard, ferts can love pretty normal lives with Adrenal, I think it's in their last days when they don't so so well. I'd give an arm and a leg for one of mine to have Adrenal instead of Insulinoma. I think Adrenal is (in my opinion) the most treatable cancer. Just one implant 2-3 times per year.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2014 14:17:46 GMT -5
Well we're back from the vet, and she thought that it was pretty clear signs of adrenal. Surgery is too expensive for me, and she didn't recommend it anyway, so what we are doing now is a 3 month trial of lupron injections to gauge how he responds and from there the vet will give me the option of using implants to treat him from then on.
Basically, she said even though she's very sure its adrenal, whats to be very sure theres nothing else possibly causing the hair loss, and because the des implant takes longer to show results, she said its easier to test with lupron and "kick-start" the treatment and see how we do.
So anyway, he's had his first injection today, so hopefully over the next few months we'll see some improvement with his hair loss & his over-sleeping/lethargy. She also says he's a bit underweight but we don't think its too abnormal because he usually gets very skinny in the summer anyway. (Since he was a baby he's done this, and then gets his chubs in the winter, but even then he's always been a smaller ferret.)
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Post by Sherry on Aug 1, 2014 9:09:46 GMT -5
Good luck, and keep in mind, even if lupron doesn't work des often will.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2014 13:52:36 GMT -5
Good luck, and keep in mind, even if lupron doesn't work des often will. That's good to know! I'm just worried if it doesn't work that she may want to do a blood test etc. if the lupron doesn't work. My vet funds are pretty barren now, as I also had an emergency not-being-able-to-pee situation with one of my three cats, Jellybean, yesterday almost immediately after getting back from the vet with Rolo. Also, is it normal for him to want to sleep more after getting the injections? It's not like he's super lethargic or unresponsive or anything, he got up to wrestle and play with Twiggy for a bit this morning but other than that all he wants to do is sleeeeep. (He's still eating fine and everything.) Edit: Twiggy is my youngest cat - they are very good friends.
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Post by Sherry on Aug 1, 2014 18:34:32 GMT -5
Mine are always lethargic for a day or so afterwards.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2014 23:11:35 GMT -5
Mine are always lethargic for a day or so afterwards. Ok good to know its fairly normal. It's my first time going through this so everything is new and scary Like I said though he's responsive and will give me kisses when I bug him before curling up to sleep again. He really is the sweetest little guy, even when he's not feeling very good.
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Post by Thérèse on Aug 3, 2014 5:46:58 GMT -5
Here's hoping the treatment helps Rolo rediscover his wild ferret ways
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2014 9:12:57 GMT -5
Here's hoping the treatment helps Rolo rediscover his wild ferret ways Well I know its going to take time, but today when I got up he was quite impatient to be let out of his cage - he wasn't biting them or anything, but he does this thing where he follows me mid-height level to level as if to say HEY LET ME OUT LOOK HOW CUTE I AM. I had to wait because I wanted to give my cat Jellybean her antibiotics first before letting him out, but he's out of his cage now and puttering around at a slower pace than usual but I'll see if I can get him war-dancing after I eat my breakfast.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2014 10:55:24 GMT -5
I just wanted to post a bit of an update: He's only had one Lupron injection so far, but I can really notice the difference. Not in his coat, that will take time, but today he's just been a flurry of energy. When he was younger he'd but up for HOURS at a time playing and investigating everything, and today he's been up for ages, restashing his toys (which he couldn't be bothered with doing for AGES) chasing me around, dragging his dryer tube out from storage, chasing Twiggy around a bit, stealing various cat toys, attempting to rip open the bag of litter and empty it all etc. Basically its like, for the first time in a long time I really have to watch out for him again, because I'm back to hearing some funny noise, looking over and being all OMG as he's about to topple something over/on top of himself/break things etc. I haven't had to worry about him breaking things because he just hasn't had the energy to get into trouble. In general his energy levels do seem to have increased a LOT and he's back to his ferrety antics
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Post by Heather on Aug 16, 2014 15:18:40 GMT -5
That is so fantastic. I'm so happy for you both. Isn't it awful how subtle this disease is?! Often you think it's just age. It's not until you give the lupron or the DES and all of a sudden you have your ferret back. ciao
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