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Post by goingpostal on Mar 6, 2011 22:45:48 GMT -5
Pips been on monthly Lupron for almost a year with great results, but yesterday I caught him starting up the sexual aggression again and paying way too close attention to Pandora's butt so I'd like to try increasing his dosage, just not sure what the recommend jump is? I don't remember off hand what he's on now but I know we started him out on the low end.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 6, 2011 22:53:16 GMT -5
When I suggested that to my vet, she mentioned she'd had far more success using melatonin implants in conjunction with the normal(base) dosage of lupron.
Now, for the last year or so, Sinnead has been displaying sexual aggression a few days prior to each due shot. Once she had it, the symptoms would disappear til a few days before the next was due. We held her like that til she started losing more fur, and it wasn't coming back.
The melatonin and lupron together do seem to be doing the trick for now, though.
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Post by goingpostal on Mar 6, 2011 23:35:42 GMT -5
You think the hormones just wearing off faster? He got his shot today so it's definately at the end, this is just the first time he's reoccured any symptoms since we started it. I hadn't planned on bringing them into the vet until May so maybe I will stick with the same dosage of lupron until then and have them order a melatonin implant to implant then. Unless he gets drastically worse where I will bring them all in sooner. Melatonin is fairly cheap isn't it?
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Post by goingpostal on Mar 6, 2011 23:38:57 GMT -5
He's on 100 micrograms btw.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 7, 2011 0:16:26 GMT -5
Given that the lupron costs me $42 a month, the melatonin cost $78, and vet said it's usually good for a year(at least here). Miamiferret was saying she has to have them redone every 3-4 months.
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Post by goingpostal on Mar 7, 2011 0:19:54 GMT -5
I'll call on Tues when I'm off to get an estimate.
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Post by darlene on Mar 7, 2011 0:21:42 GMT -5
I had no idea melatonin could last for a year. my girls Nike and Abby (R.I.P) use to get them every 4 mths.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 7, 2011 0:38:16 GMT -5
I was surprised by that as well. Unless she meant it could last UP to a year  I've got to take Boris in for a vet appt. next month- I'll ask then. It's the vet techs who do the shots and implants here, and they can't(won't) give their opinion. |
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Post by joclyn on Mar 7, 2011 1:44:51 GMT -5
the melatonin implant is only good for 3 months - that's per the info right on their website. if you're seeing no loss of fur after that timeframe than it's a matter of the other med (lupron or des) doing enough within the system to keep the fur there. and there's potential that it will drop out (unexpectedly) with a shed.
i've had the opposite occur with finola. lupron alone didn't bring the fur back, so, did the melatonin..fur came back. for two months. second implant did very little for the fur - kind of kept what was there on her; didn't cause it to regrow again. her lupron dose was also upped around that time. still lost fur; no regrowing of it - not even after shed was done. got the des implant - waited 5 weeks, no fur. did a melatonin implant - no fur. fall shed over with and still no fur - she'd actually gotten worse. got another implant in. STILL no fur! that was last fall...what happens within the past month?? FUR - and tons of it!! no melatonin implant either! *shakes head* other than sometimes the melatonin is none to have no effect and/or lose effectiveness - what's happened with her makes no sense!!
as for upping the lupron dose - it was clear mine needed more than 100 mg...the vet argued and hemmed/hawed and didn't want to increase it. even when boo was showing the aggression again within 2 weeks of getting his shot. and finola was at 3 weeks. she finally agreed to up it (only after boo tried to bite her, lol) and then only increased it to 125. ticked me off especially for boo - who'd lost muscle/weight as well as was back to being 'the mad groomer' on top of attacking poor noodle all the time. she did move him up to 150 though after i really put my foot down about. the rest were left at 125. after that she did get the des shots in - so, boo & chauncey got them and then finola and duncan got them the following month at the other vets office.
i know plenty that have gotten as much as 500 a month. i wouldn't say to jump right to that tho!! 150 would be reasonable - depends on how quickly the symptoms return after the dose of 100 is given as well as how severe they are. if symptoms returning are that noticable that you're talking about, then 150 would make sense...125 might not be enough. although, you could do 125 for a couple months and if that seems to resolve the issue, stay at it; if not, move up to 150.
my boo definitely needed to go up to at least 150 if not higher...chauncey was pretty much okay at 125 and so was duncan. finola it was iffy what was best for her. she'd always had attitude fluctuations over time - sometimes it would seem the lupron didn't do a thing and other months she was a perfect angel and the same with the increased dose of 125 - she was only brought up to that a couple months before getting the des shot and that did seem to remove those fluctuations. can't really be sure since she was only at that dose for 2 months before getting the other med.
they do look at the ferrets weight when figuring dose. 100 is the base amount and they'll do a bit higher at first if the ferret is on the big side. all four of mine are between 2 3/4 and 3 1/2 pounds (before adrenal hit). those weights seem to fall in perfectly with the 100 mg dose...so, i can understand why she balked at increasing it.
still, i see them every day and know when their behaviour is changing...and you know your little one. if you feel a higher dose is warranted, hold firm on that!!
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Post by Sherry on Mar 7, 2011 2:44:13 GMT -5
I guess part of the problem here is the lupron comes in only premeasured dosages. So, since Sinnead is getting 100 mg already, her next is two injections a month at 200 mg  . I'm holding off, though, to see how long the melatonin works for her. With Boris, as I'd mentioned, I'm going to try the melatonin right off the bat and see if that does anything for him. |
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Post by joclyn on Mar 7, 2011 18:58:28 GMT -5
iirc, the vet would make up doses before the clinic day (and would store them in the freezer), so, even tho the main supply comes premixed, it's a fairly large amount in the vial - they just put the needle through the cover to pull the med up into it and can modify dosage during that.
also, iirc, you can get them straight off as pre-portioned in 100 mg doses. ask which way your vet is getting it in.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 7, 2011 20:12:52 GMT -5
As the premeasured 100 mg doses. Already asked  |
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