Adrenal or seasonal shedding?

[olenka]

Hi All!
Desperately need your advice. Pls read on. This is a long story.

Last fall our 4 years old ferret Milky lost weight and got a bold spot on his side. That spot was  about 1 inch in diameter and was not completely bold, but I could see his skin and wains. I brought him to his vet, Dr. Sedlaceck, who ordered a metabolic panel. The blood work came back normal. The doctor said that it was just a seasonal thing. Last November Milky put wait on and developed such a rich fur coat I had never seen before.

BUT this spring Milky got same symptoms on a greater scale. It started at the end of February with a small bold spot. Metabolic panel has been taken at that point of time. It came back normal again! Dr. Sedlaceck said that it could be either very early stage of adrenal, or a seasonal shedding.  But Milky's condition is getting worse every day. Now his whole left side is almost bold; his right side has 2X3 inches bold spot, and there is another small bold spot at his left thigh. As well as last year, those bold spots still covered with very thing fur, almost nothing. In terms of behavior, Milky is a bit more active comparing to other ferrets, but not much. I called his doctor in the middle of March again; he prescribed melatonin. For 3 weeks Milky is taking it, but medication does not seem to work. He is still loosing hair, and I am calling his doctor. The doctor is saying that it takes 6 weeks for melatonine to start working. His suggestion is to wait for another 3 weeks and see if Milky grows summer fur coat. If not, he would do pineal ultrasound. Or we can do an ultrasound now, but the results are not always accurate. They depend on a technician qualification.

Any suggestions would be highly appreciated. It is so painful to watch our beautiful fuzzy loosing his fur. Should we just wait? get another opinion? We like our vet. He has been recommended by our local shelter keeper. Our ferrets were under his care for 4 years. So far he was right on everything.

 

[abbeytheferret6]

People here are implanting their ferrets with des implant. It is a yearly implant.
I have given three of mine so far this year. One more to go. Look around for prices. Try to get someone that will not put your ferret out. I opted for a vet who charged 260.00 vs my regular vet at 349. However he put her under anesthesia and she came back to with severe nausea, and they had to take her back and watch her about 30 min. She was pawing at the mouth.

Here is a bit of info on the implant.
us.virbac.com/home/our-products/pagecontent/product-selector/suprelorin-f-implant.html

If used like in first year of life there has been studies to show it can be a preventative----maybe not 100 percent for all ferrets but there has been a good report on it. This was told to me by my vet---who said there was a study done I think in The Netherlands. The balding will get a little worse  after implant---I think there is a surge in hormone as you can see my girl did get worse. Also you need to get a blood glucose test done before implant because ferrets with insulinoma have high cortisol levels. The cortisol tries to stabilize insulinoma and when lowered by implant, the sugar lowers--thus possible crash(that is how I understood it).
My girl's spot

after implant

Now

[olenka]

Thank you, Abbey!
Your girl's bold spot looks exactly like my boy's one. 
Yes, I was considering an implant, but our vet thinks that it is too early to make this decision. He is very careful with prescribing medications. He is not sure if it was adrenal or just seasonal. 
The question is if someone have seen seasonal hair loss that severe? Should we listen to our vet and wait for another 3 weeks, or find another doctor who might go ahead with more aggressive treatment plan? 

[abbeytheferret6]

doctor is saying that it takes 6 weeks for melatonine to start working. His suggestion is to wait for another 3 weeks and see if Milky grows summer fur coat.

Read more: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/25175/adrenal-seasonal-shedding#ixzz5lNYK3szF


From what I understand melatonin may help hair grow but does nothing for adrenal disease. They are going to get adrenal disease sooner or later if they are spade or neutered. That's what I thought I read here. Personally, I would use the money for ultrasounds to get the implant. My vet(exotic) tried to get me to implant my 1 year old craigslist girl---I wished I had done it----always been funny about meds. I have a change of heart now after I seen my Phoebe also get a swollen vulva, which is a symptom in females. That particular symptom subsided as I am sure hormones fluctuate.

 I did not wait for symptoms to show in the others.This is the first year I have done my ferrets----they range from 4--5.5 years old. Anyway the implant can be removed if any side effects---I have not heard of anything though.
 
Heather is knowledgeable in this area.

[Heather]

Melatonin does not treat adrenal, it treats "a" symptom...but only if the adrenal is addressed. Your ferret sounds like it most definitely has adrenal disease. You need the DES or Superlorin implant to treat this. It must be administered every 6 months to work properly. The annual use of the implant is for chemical castrations and for prevention. To treat adrenal you must renew the implant every 6 months to fight the disease. To get his coat back you may have to use the melatonin or ferretonin implant.
I would not wait, I would be getting the DES and treating the adrenal. The actual tests done for adrenal are useless and expensive. They only test for a certain few markers often showing false negatives. We don't even recommend it any more.
ciao

[olenka]

Thank you Abbey and Heather!
Is there a chance that Milky is just shedding this way? Last fall it was the case. He got a small bold spot in September. After Thanksgiving his fur came back, and it was sooo rich.

[abbeytheferret6]

My male is 5yrs old he has not shown any signs of adrenal---but I know as they get older---the more likely.
He is next as I just done my 3 girls in the last couple mos.

[Heather]

Adrenal is a process that has been discovered to be there whether you see symptoms or not. A few people now who've done necropsies on their ferrets were horrified to find out their ferret did indeed have adrenal and they didn't know it. The ferret either showed no apparent symptoms or they missed the subtle symptoms all together. I was just reading a thread where the person's ferret went in for another surgery and the mess on the adrenal gland was such they removed the one gland (they always check when they're in there, it's so common) The thought is adrenal starts 2 to 5 yrs after a surgical spay or neuter. Using the DES as a preventative has been known to stall it even further when applied annually. Many have noted that their ferret has this weird coat shed and come the next shed the coat returns and the ferret has no further symptoms or none are recognised....that is adrenal because it creates a simulated seasonal shed. If you use melatonin, you will hide it even more because the melatonin will help grow their coat back, but it won't treat the adrenal issue, you're only masking it. I've got a wee Marshals sprite, Mimsy, she was diagnosed 3 yrs ago for adrenal (she's been treated with 6 DES implants). When she was first diagnosed she had a sparse but passable coat and had no other adrenal symptoms. My vet didn't want to treat for adrenal as she felt that there were no real symptoms. I could smell her adrenal disease, so had her implanted. I always use melatonin to support. You'd never know that she was adrenal. She's an older girl (about 6 or 7 yrs) and she's very active. She slows down when her implant is due...so I know, that is a symptom (she also smells really bad). Quite basically if you have a farm ferret that is older than 4 or 5 yrs, then there is a very good chance that you've got an adrenal ferret

ciao

[olenka]

Thank you, Heather!
I am looking for a vet who would do an implant. Our dr. feels that we have to do ultrasound first.

[Heather]

Adrenal unless very advanced does not show up on an ultrasound so it like the Tennessee panel is a waste of some really good money
ciao