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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2012 1:22:59 GMT -5
So the time has come to talk about Tak. Tak is the 18mo adrenal albino we adopted a few weeks ago. He had an adrenal surgery to remove one adrenal gland almost 2 months ago now and he has healed up well. He has gotten most of his coat back and it is becoming whiter (it was REALLY yellow when we brought him home), and now that he is on raw (he switched himself almost as soon as he came home with us  ) his coat is getting softer and thicker too. He has gained a bit of weight since being with us, but not a large amount, but he looks healthy. He still has his biting problem, but he only bites my hands and my BFs hands and feet. Tak doesn't bite my other ferts (except for at play) and he plays well with them and has integrated fabulously! Overall he seems to be in good health. So here is my problem... Do we let him go without medicating him or do we give him deslorelin, lupron, or another drug to help him with his adrenal? This question was posed when we brought him home and another member mentioned that it would be a good idea to make a seperate post for this question to get everyone's thoughts (thanks Jackie ). So, what do you think? What are your thoughts in regards to either/or? As a side note - I want to get as much info as I can on this as my vet doesn't feel we should give Tak medication right now, but I wonder if it is a bad thing that we wait. So I want to obtain as much info/knowledge as I can to determine if I will agree with my vet or if I need to push the meds. Thanks!!! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2012 1:42:38 GMT -5
To get the discussion started I'm posting the original comment that made me start this new thread. The commentor here is Jackie and as she states this is a good question as it can maybe help others with early adrenal babies and what to do for them.
Jackie wrote:
This is a tough one because he's so young (18 months). So if you start now, he'll be on deslorelin for quite a while. I'm not sure any one has treated adrenal with des for that long (will probably be at least 3-5 years). My concern would be how effective deslorelin will be after so many years. I'm really on the fence for this one. Maybe make a separate thread about it? It's a very very good question.
I know Koda started getting deslorelin a year ago, so I think he was two years old when he got his first implant. Katt is doing that on a yearly basis. So not far off in age from your boy.
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Post by katt on Dec 13, 2012 3:51:51 GMT -5
Personally I would almost lean towards not giving him meds YET. He has already received treatment - surgery. I would wait to see if he begins to show symptoms of being adrenal, indicating that it is recurring, and then treat him at that point. If you start Lupron or Des now, then when the adrenal veers up later they might not be as effective and you will then be left with very little in the way of options.
We went the opposite route with Koda. Started with Lupron when he was a little over a year old, then moved to Des once I could get my hands on it. He was implanted just after his second birthday, and again this year. If/when the Des ceases to be effective, we will try the surgical route and probably add a melatonin implant into the mix.
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Post by Sherry on Dec 13, 2012 9:30:25 GMT -5
Myself, I'd give him deslorelin as a "preventative". Given that he IS already adrenal, and generally kicks up again within a year, it *should* either prevent or delay the other one from becoming overly active since that's the only one being stimulated now.
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Post by goingpostal on Dec 13, 2012 20:06:20 GMT -5
That's a tough one, was he showing signs of adrenal in the other gland do you know? I had one ferret go through surgery at that age and not reoccur or at least show any signs of adrenal for the 3 years she lived after it. But some it comes back quickly. Myself I prefer to wait for issues to treat, I haven't had an adrenal ferret die of that issue, it's always been something else that takes them. We were very close to losing male that blocked, but he was on treatment so not a guarantee anyways. I just don't know if giving meds before the problem is actually helpful at all or not. If you want to preventative treat go with the des but I believe ideally you give it every 6 months and it would be for life.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2012 20:17:39 GMT -5
Yep, seeing both sides in the responses. And the thing is, I agree with BOTH. How do you choose??? goingpostal - from the little bit of info they gave me at the vet's office he was being kept at (I never got to talk directly to the vet - though I could probably call back and ask - maybe get his records if my vet doesn't already have them) it doesn't appear that there are any tumors on the other adrenal gland. And I missed part of your reponse about a male that blocked - what do you mean by 'blocked'? I'm curious as I'm trying to keep my eyes open for symptoms and I've never dealt with an adrenal baby before. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2012 20:40:37 GMT -5
Adrenal males frequently have prostate issues, which becomes enlarged and blocks their ureter (is that the right piece lol?) so they have trouble urinating. Basically the prostate presses up against the tube that urine flows through.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2012 20:41:01 GMT -5
Oh and if you were going to use it as preventative, I think you would give it yearly.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2012 21:43:28 GMT -5
Since the ferret has already developed adrenal, I don' t see it as preventive so much as slowing the progress. The ferret has already been proven to over produce hormones. What I would like to understand better is how the des works. Will it actually stop the continual growth of a tumor or does it simply address the hormone production? I lean toward assuming the other gland may already have tissue mutating that isn' t visible yet.
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Post by Heather on Dec 13, 2012 22:49:30 GMT -5
I wouldn't use the DES until you need it. Just an opinion but it doesn't stop the adrenal tumours from growing but it does delay it and it does offer you a method of lengthening his life. He will become adrenal eventually, that's a given. After seeing Sprite's adrenal tumour progress despite the use of the DES suggests to me that like lupron it's a treatment, not a preventative of an already "infected" ferret. A ferret who's had surgery is an infected ferret. This is JMO.
ciao
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Post by darlene on Dec 18, 2012 3:09:34 GMT -5
I think people need to be careful about thinking of the des as a preventative. Anything that I've read I've never gotten the impression that it was anything more than just slowing the process down. Which I'm very thankful for.
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