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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2014 10:24:52 GMT -5
Hi All! I took Zekrom to a ferret specialist vet May 10, 2014 because I was worried he had adrenal disease (weight loss, hair loss on his tail only with thinning hair on his hips/legs-his legs should be brown but now looked like he had white hips). This was the 3rd vet I took him to in a 6 month period (the first 2 were not convinced he was adrenal, but could not diagnose a particular issue). On May 10th, the vet said "he has rat tail and has lost his baby weight. His legs are just roaning". (he will be 3 years old tomorrow October 15th) Since that visit, his tail has gone completely bald along with his bum He is acting fine (playing, eating, and going to the bathroom normally) and no 'aggressive' behavior. I am convinced, and wishing I was wrong, that he has adrenal disease. I showed a picture of his rear to the vet this past Saturday; she said "oh yeah, he is definitely adrenal". (Just for clarification, I showed her a picture because she did not have an extra appointment available when I took Zoey for her bg test-she was at 104=yay! and gained 2oz! yay again!) Since the des implants aren't currently available, she suggested giving him 1mg of melatonin "everyday after work". Has anyone done this? I am hesitant to do this because I thought I read melatonin has to be given everyday and at the same time, I thought at sunset or sunrise? She said it can't hurt him, but for some reason I am very hestant to do this. Maybe because he is acting fine and I could careless if he has hair on his tail and bum? Also, I am having a hard time finding pure/straight 1mg melatonin.(I found 3mg and 10mg tabs but did not read the ingredients) I have a mortar and pestle so grinding a pill would not be a problem, but I was looking for a liquid (the only liquid I found had almost 10 ingredients in it including alcohol). Any advice and experience is what I could use. (If I could find a pill, I was thinking of mixing with water/salmon oil and putting that in soup? If liquid, just straight in soup) Thank you for reading this lengthy post. Like all of you, I love my babies and want to best for them
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Post by Heather on Oct 14, 2014 11:13:06 GMT -5
The melatonin isn't really going to work, not for the stage you're dealing with. It might appear to be working, it will probably put fur on but it won't do much to slow down that tumour and that's what you want to do. Go for the monthly lupron and order the DES. Yes, the DES is on backorder but get all your paperwork done and put the order in so you're in the line up for the implant. There are a lot of orders sitting out there and you might as well get in line. She's right about the dosage, just wrong about the timing. It must be given between 7 to 9 hrs after sunrise. It's a very narrow window, making it very difficult for most people to work it. Most people go for the melatonin implant and use it as a support for the stronger drugs rather than a stand alone ciao
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Post by bitbyter on Oct 14, 2014 11:48:23 GMT -5
Yeah, I agree with Heather. I'd get the lupron and put the DES on order. Melatonin really just helps with fur regrowth. It really don't do much for the tumours.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2014 13:36:10 GMT -5
Thanks you 2! I should have mentioned; I did ask her if she had any lupron in stock or if she could get some in the office in the meantime but she said since the des *should* be available soon, not to waste the couple hundred dollars on the shot. I think another reason I was hesitant on the melatonin was because I remembered that it does not "help" on the inside, but rather just the outside (fur). It seemed like her main concern would be his prostate and just making sure he does not struggle to urinate(which I knew to watch out for; but glad she reminded me too). While I do not want to second guess her, or go somewhere else, I'm wondering if I should call a couple different vets and see if they have lupron/what their cost is. When I first got ferrets, the vet we went to (she saw ferrets, but I now know does not specialize in ferrets) reccommened getting yearly lupron injections to fight adrenal disease (I also now know that this was more of a theory than anything else) and the shots were under $100. Sorry, just thinking/typing out loud
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Post by bitbyter on Oct 14, 2014 13:46:05 GMT -5
I'd call around for the lupron. From reading what others have posted, a lupron shot (lasts about a month) costs under $100 (around $65 to $80 is what I remember).
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2014 14:11:13 GMT -5
Thanks Jason! I think I will do that. Hopefully if I can find a vet, they will not give me a hard time about not being a regular client Side note, over the weekend, I watched your butchering video (and then I watched how to butcher a chicken) and they were so helpful and educational! (and I laughed out loud when you talked about the size of your thumb!)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2014 14:18:43 GMT -5
My vet charges $50 for a lupron shot, so I would definitely check around.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2014 14:48:00 GMT -5
Thanks lasher! Is there specific wording I should use when I call or just say, 'hi. I have a 3 year old ferret and would like him to have a lupron injection'? Wow, can you tell I'm sort of a new ferrent?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2014 14:57:20 GMT -5
I would just call and say you have a ferret with adrenal disease who has been untreated and would like to get him a Lupron Injection as soon as possible. That's what I didm, of course I had no such luck finding one, but I think it's just where I live. If you have a hard time finding one at 'Ferret' Vets, call Avian Vets, they use Lupron for birds too.
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Post by Heather on Oct 14, 2014 15:05:37 GMT -5
One thing to consider....is ask your vet first to order in a lupron shot for you. If he/she is your regular vet and you're comfortable with her you should be able to just tell her that you don't mind using the melatonin but you're also ok with treating immediately by using lupron. Then she can call other vets or get the lupron ordered directly. It takes my vet 2 days (faster than I can get the appointment) to get a lupron (even a double dose) shot brought in. This will begin your ferret's adrenal treatment and in the mean time your vet can put an order in for the DES. That way if there is a hold up in production and you can't get the DES next month your ferret is already being treated and you just get another lupron dose. I had to do this a few years ago, when the DES went on back order and we couldn't get any for a few months. The thing is the longer you put off treating the adrenal the further along it gets. It's a horrible nasty disease that puts so much stress on the ferrets system that they start developing other health issues from the stress of fighting the adrenal tumours ciao
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2014 9:52:38 GMT -5
The lower dose of lupron was $45+tax for me, and the higher dosage was $67.50 at my clinic. Definitely affordable as a hold-over until you get the implant. though I know I could never afford to keep up lupron month over month, especially at the higher dose for Rolo.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2014 13:13:52 GMT -5
Thank you all so much! I think I'm letting my 'kindness/sensitive' side get in the way. Our vet just went through some pretty serious surgery last month, so I didn't want to push or overstep my bounds as she stated she was in pain/not having a good day. She seemed to shrug off the lupron shot so quickly though; I almost feel funny about trying to insist him, Zekrom, to get one. But I also do not want to go to another vet I don't know and have him/her touch my baby. I've always had a hard time standing up for myself (I'm not much for confrontation) but I have to since the babies can't speak English I'm going away for the weekend so the kids get to play with grandma (my mother in law-she adores them so much!). I'm off work on Monday, so I'm going to try a couple shops for hearts/organs/meats and will put a call into the vet. The worse she can say is no right?
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Post by Heather on Oct 17, 2014 13:33:15 GMT -5
That's right....but I'd try "your" vet first rather than have to go through dealing the whole "new vet" thing again. That's such a pain and often traumatic. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2014 15:23:30 GMT -5
So I finally got the call into the vet- she cannot get lupron shots. (Something about not being able to ship over the state line anymore) I then asked, if I could find another vet who has lupron, could they ship it to her- She said (receptionist) that if I could find it I could ask them to ship it. She then said that they were trying to get the melatonin implants and *should* get them next week. Unless the price has gone up, the melatonin is $65 + vet visit = just under $90. While I don't mind spending that, I thought melatonin was cosmetic? Is there any research that states it actually helps the glands/tumors? I put a call into a vet who other ferrents in my area sees-I was on hold for 13 minutes while the receptionist asked if they had lupron (but she thought they did). I will call back later. My next plan of attack-there is a vet I used to take the babies to, but she is not a ferret specialist (mainly just cats and dogs but sees ferrets which is why I first started going there). She actually called me, during Zoey's fist year of life, to say they were researching if lupron shots could reduce or eliminate adrenal disease if given within the first year of life. (I thought sure, I'll try it). I now know that that's not the case, but it also makes me think she might be able to get it.
Would going to a non-ferret specialist to get a lupron shot to treat adrenal.....a bad thing? or not a good idea?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2014 12:54:52 GMT -5
So I finally got the call into the vet- she cannot get lupron shots. (Something about not being able to ship over the state line anymore) I then asked, if I could find another vet who has lupron, could they ship it to her- She said (receptionist) that if I could find it I could ask them to ship it. She then said that they were trying to get the melatonin implants and *should* get them next week. Unless the price has gone up, the melatonin is $65 + vet visit = just under $90. While I don't mind spending that, I thought melatonin was cosmetic? Is there any research that states it actually helps the glands/tumors? I put a call into a vet who other ferrents in my area sees-I was on hold for 13 minutes while the receptionist asked if they had lupron (but she thought they did). I will call back later. My next plan of attack-there is a vet I used to take the babies to, but she is not a ferret specialist (mainly just cats and dogs but sees ferrets which is why I first started going there). She actually called me, during Zoey's fist year of life, to say they were researching if lupron shots could reduce or eliminate adrenal disease if given within the first year of life. (I thought sure, I'll try it). I now know that that's not the case, but it also makes me think she might be able to get it. Would going to a non-ferret specialist to get a lupron shot to treat adrenal.....a bad thing? or not a good idea? I don't really see how going to a non-ferret specialist could be bad... but definitely bring your own ferretone/oil to distract them while they're doing the shot so they don't have to struggle with a wiggly ferret. I guess the only thing would be to call around and find out the dosage? I don't suppose the clinic that stocks lupron could sell it/transfer it to the ferret clinic? Or prescribe/sell it to you with instruction to have the other clinic inject it?
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