Young female ferret -desexing and urinary incontinence

[bree313]

One of my ferrets is about 6 months and coming up to needing speying or the implant. 

I've spent numerous hours reading up about spey surgery triggering the onset of Adrenal Disease later in life.

Is the implant a suitable alternative in female ferrets to prevent coming in to season and how often does it need replacing to be effective?

My girl has always had a bit of a weeing issue but I put it down to where she wees (if not in a designated tray/mat area), or excitement. She sometimes is still dripping when she finishes her wee, especially if she's in a hurry.

Would spey surgery potentially make this worse?

My poor baby is currently getting treated for an abscessed anal gland, so at the follow up appointment I'll ask the vet about testing for incontinence (is there a test?)

Follow on question, 2 of my girls (and my 2 fosters when I decide I'm keeping them) have had surgical desexing, can I use the implant with them to reduce the risk of adrenal? I've read the files and think I can but would like confirmation.

Thanks!

[Sherry]

In short, yes to everything And I would keep an eye to see if she shows signs of coming in, but on average yearly. Some have been finding it lasts longer though.

[Heather]

I use the DES for my intact jills. It works really well. I had Tequila done last year in January and she's still not needed a new implant. You can use it as a preventative and it appears to at least hold the disease at bay if it doesn't prevent it altogether
ciao

[bree313]

An update on my little girl.

After numerous lengthy discussions with the specialist vet, I opted for the surgical spey procedure so the vet could have an exploratory look to check kidneys, bladder, tracts and all the surrounding organs. A visual exam at showed that the opening was very small and the issue was it took the wee a long time to trickle out the small hole. My vet also requested that we wait until she came fully in to season to see if the opening would stretch naturally (I know this is not usually recommended and I discussed all the risks with my vet before deciding).

My girl came fully in to season 2 weeks later, and unfortunately the opening didn't stretch. The spey procedure went smoothly and she has no abnormalities internally. The small opening was assessed under anaesthetic and a vulvoplasty was performed to make the opening slightly larger. The small opening was a concern as there was always urine in her tracts/bladder as it couldn't empty properly and this has the potential to cause infections and kidney problems.

I'm so happy to report that all the procedures went well, despite my panic as there was no record of similar surgery performed on a ferret to form a baseline for expected recovery/complications. She is almost fully recovered (had to have the remaining stitch removed yesterday while under anaesthetic for her ongoing anal gland issue) and we have had no leaking wee since the procedure over 6 weeks ago!!

My vet knows to expect my 5 ferrets next year for the implant to prevent adrenal disease.