Deslorelin Experiences?

[Deleted]

Some people are using the higher-dose implants since some ferrets experience breakthrough (symptoms) on the regular dose. According to Dr. Wagner, the higher-dose implants are longer duration, but they also do result in a slightly higher dose of Deslorelin.

This stronger dose is probably not a problem for younger ferrets with normal/stable blood sugar. However, ferrets with blood sugar instability and/or older ferrets may be better off with the lower dose. As you get older, many medicines need to be given in lower doses to geriatric patients. (At least that's true for people)

-jennifer

[katt]

1) How did you hear about Deslorelin
The forum.

2) What was your vet's take on it
My original vet was all for it and tried to order it but as a VCA clinic was unable to. The vet at the clinic I started working for has mixed feelings. He would only agree to implant if the ferret tested positive on the Tenn Panel, and does not agree with it as a preventative or for chemical castration. The vet who did the implant didn;t know much about it and was eager to learn more and see how it worked on Koda.

3) How many ferrets you have tried it on
one

4) What results you saw, and how long it took for them to show up
Koda's sexual aggression stopped and his IBD calmed down. It took a month to really see results. We did see that the sypmtoms began fading over the weeks, but we did not see any significantly noticeable difference until 4 weeks. The symptoms were not completely resolved until after 2 months. This went right along with the resutls we saw with Lupron - it took about 6-8 weeks before Lupron took full effect when we started that. We got the implant after a long period without lupron, so it makes sense that his body had to rebalance itself again.

5) Any treatments you have supported the Des with
None. Was previously treating with Lupron.

6) Have you had a ferret in which it did NOT work, and if so how did you proceed?
Nope!

7) Any side effects you may have noticed
The implant seems to have triggered and early seasonal change. After getting the implant (within 2 weeks) he started to shed madly. He then lost his witner coat and got his sumemr coat. Far too early. This then seems to have triggered Kenai to go into his coat change as well (I assume hormones/phermones Koda was putting off triggered Kenai ).

8) Cost you paid for implant, include any fees that had to go with it.
I paid $125 for the implant and another $20 for shipping. Then the exam and injection fee was $90 total. I narrowly avoided paying several hundred by going to a different vet.

And of course add anything you think is important, my list is just a suggestion.
Des implants come in a box of several pre-loaded needles "implanters" and ONE implanter ("syringe"). If you are able to get a single implant, the vet can use an AVID microchip implanter - it's a perfect fit.

[stephenie]

where did you hear about Deslorelin

I live in Holland and Dr Schoemaker at the animal university in Utrecht started a new research about 7 years ago, he wanted to use the deslorelin as an alternative to castration, ferrets are not castrated here until they are sexually active, its against the law, as is removal of the anal gland. At that time I had two young males and decided to take part in the research, at the same time I decided to put my ferrets on a all meat diet.


How many ferrets you have tried it on.

I still have the two ferrets who began, both now 6 and a half years old, they got the first one at three months old when they started to become sexually aggressive towards each other, that lasted for 20 months for Moon and 22 months for Shadow, they then got longer duration, this lasted 3 and a half years for Moon and nearly 4 years for Shadow, they now have the shorter duration because the longer was no longer available in Holland.
Both ferrets are healthy and happy, Moon developed inslinomen about 6 months ago despite only eating fresh food, this is being controlled with medication, both boys have a wonderful full coat and no signs of adrenalin. Except for the inslinomen in Moon the boys have never been sick,

Cost you paid for implant, include any fees that had to go with it.

The cost in Holland is around 120 euro’s, but can differ per vet.

[anna]

1) How did you hear about Deslorelin
My previous vet in 2009

2) What was your vet's take on it
She raved about it back then and I agreed to try it with Ghost, who was considered "pre-adrenal" at age 4. Also just got Moon implanted by our new vet, who also is a fan.

3) How many ferrets you have tried it on
two

4) What results you saw, and how long it took for them to show up
Ghost didn't have any symptoms I was aware of, but had just adopted her and taken her in for her well-fuzzy visit. Just in the past few months (2.5 years post implant) I've noticed some abdominal swelling and lethargy, so it's time for her checkup.

Moon had hair loss, and since she just got implanted today, I'll update the post when I see improvement.

5) Any treatments you have supported the Des with
None.

6) Have you had a ferret in which it did NOT work, and if so how did you proceed?
N/A

7) Any side effects you may have noticed
I didn't know Ghost before the implant, so can't say how she may have changed after the implant.

8) Cost you paid for implant, include any fees that had to go with it.
About $150, not counting the vet visit.

[Deleted]

1) How did you hear about Deslorelin
This forum actually. I took the information to my vet, but he already knew about it, and had it on hand.

2) What was your vet's take on it.
He was for using it as palliative care for adrenal, not for preventative, and only after a Tenn. panel (though Hiko got around this, because a second ultrasound showed both glands as swollen, which is apparently a CLEAR indicator of the disease).

3) How many ferrets you have tried it on?
Two.

4) What results you saw, and how long it took for them to show up?
Pixie's results were mixed, in that she also had a bunch of GI tumors and cysts removed, as well as a melatonin implant. So behavioral changes were rapid and due mainly to getting those masses out of her belly. A few weeks after implantation, hair grew back (probably melatonin), when she suffered a collapse due to GI lymphoma, she was ultrasounded again, and it was seen that her adrenals had been swelling, not maintaining or decreasing, so the implant didn't seem to have an effect.

Hiko never lost any fur, so it's stayed nice and shiny. He was getting a funky odor, though, and I've noticed he's returned to a normal fert-y smell. No other effects seen, though he'll probably be ultrasounded again for a check up and progress report at his next appointment.

5) Any treatments you have supported the Des with.
Melatonin.

6) Have you had a ferret in which it did NOT work, and if so how did you proceed?
One out of the two who implanted (Hiko's received his only recently, and his adrenal is not advanced at all, so it's hard to judge how he's doing). By the time we knew, on Pixie, that the des. wasn't working, she had succombed to another cancer.

7) Any side effects you may have noticed
No. Poor Hiko was woozy, after, but that's only because the vet insists on anesthetizing them for the implants.

ETA NEW, great idea, thanks Fearless!:
8) Cost you paid for implant, include any fees that had to go with it.
$210 for the implant, $41 for anesthesia, $4 disposal fee, increased office fee (medical problem) of $53, for a total of about $308 per ferret (though Pixie's des. was actually $219, for whatever reason)

[Deleted]

I wanted to update that I implanted another ferret, Cloud, with the lower deslorelin dose implant back in January. He started showing aggressive signs of insulinoma AND adrenal late last year, with sexual aggression and blood sugar crashes. I knew the implant might have some kind of negative impact on his insulinoma, but he was urinating frequently and in small amounts. That meant that prostate swelling was a more immediate threat.
Within a couple of weeks, the hair loss stopped, the sexual aggression stopped, and the urination normalized. His insulinoma, however, got worse.
By the middle of may (four months later) he was getting 90mg of diazoxide a day and about 16mg of prednisone a day and still crashing. He of course was getting raw, but also getting carnivore care as a supplement. At times, I would give him glucose gel or nutrical to bring him up but he just wouldn't stay above a blood glucose of 30.
He was only 4 or 5 but already his rear leg muscles were wasting away and combined with the insulinoma stopped being able to walk. I had to put him down. I knew the deslorelin made the insulinoma worse, but I had to choose between the lesser of the two evils; urinary blockage or increased blood glucose issues. We treated the insulinoma as best as possible, but it eventually won out. He will be dearly missed.

I just wanted to post about it because it is a very real concern. That was the most aggressive form of insulinoma I have ever seen. He didn't last a year after showing signs. But urinary blockage can kill quickly and is not otherwise treatable... It's just something to take into account when making your choice to implant. I intend to implant my younger ferrets as a preventative and since they have been on raw since an early age, I'm hoping not to have this become an issue later.

[Deleted]

I should also say that I had re-implanted Mimosa, my 8.5 year old ferret at the same time. She had taken over 4 months to respond to it the previous year, and had regrown some hair and reduced the aggressive behavior for just a few months before losing her hair again. We reimplanted her in January but she never grew back more than a tiny tuft of hair and her muscles continued to waste away. She had insulinoma too, and I couldn't tell if she really had much of a change in it from the implant. We finally had to let her go just a few weeks before poor Cloud there because she lost the ability to get up, walk around or move at all from the adrenal. So, I don't know that the implant will ALWAYS have a detrimental effect, but in Cloud's case it did since his illness was so extreme and aggressive.

[Deleted]

I'm so sorry about Cloud. You made the best decision you could and loved him dearly. That's all we can do.

I'll write up something here soon as Pixie had her implant a month or so ago.

[Deleted]

1) How did you hear about Deslorelin
Began reading reports several years ago; Dr. Wagner spoke at some show I went to (can't remember which/when, but it was at least two years ago) about it.

2) What was your vet's take on it
As Tank stopped responding to Lupron, my vet was willing to try anything. Tank's blood sugars were always stable (we test regularly) so he wasn't very concerned about that being an unwanted side-effect.

3) How many ferrets you have tried it on
One, so far.

4) What results you saw, and how long it took for them to show up
Within the first week and a half, Tank's sexual aggression, prostate issues, and overall mood improved. He stopped sleeping as much, and was more interested in play. By the second week, his appetite skyrocketed and he was seemingly insatiable. By the third week his stools and digestion had improved considerably, and mood and temperament was back to what they were pre-adrenal. By the forth week, he began regrowing hair all over his body. We're in the sixth or so week now, and he's fully furred, happy-go-lucky, and is regaining muscle and has better posture.

5) Any treatments you have supported the Des with
Tank gets pulse treatments of reishi to help stool and digestion.

6) Have you had a ferret in which it did NOT work, and if so how did you proceed?
Not yet.

7) Any side effects you may have noticed
Nothing negative, so far.

8) Cost you paid for implant, include any fees that had to go with it.
I paid $154. My vet did not charge an exam fee or any extra charges.

[missy]

1) How did you hear about Deslorelin
Through ferret owners

2) What was your vet's take on it
She has seen wonderful results - Dr. Cottrell in Gainesville, Florida

3) How many ferrets you have tried it on
One

4) What results you saw, and how long it took for them to show up
Results within weeks and that was two years ago - no signs of adrenal since then

5) Any treatments you have supported the Des with
Melatonin implant

6) Have you had a ferret in which it did NOT work, and if so how did you proceed?
N/A

7) Any side effects you may have noticed
None

8) Cost you paid for implant, include any fees that had to go with it.
I had Deslorelin Implant, Melatonin Implant and Teeth Cleaning at the same time and the total cost was around $300 for all three.

[Deleted]

Update with Hiko: symptoms are being successfully maintained with the regular dose des. (he got it back in early April, I want to say the 3rd). Coat is good, prostate is normal, glands are still enlarged, but not increasing (noticeably anyway), and odor is normal. Next check up, barring unforeseen circumstances, will be in another 4-6 months.

[Deleted]

How often is he getting an implant?

[Deleted]

Well, he's only had one, so far. My doc seems to prefer yearly, unless they show break through symptoms.

[Heather]

I've been using it on a 6 month regime. I found that I was getting breakthrough symptoms (mostly lethargy and poor appetite) at this time. The one fellow (Captain Jack) was also going back to his sexual ways by about 6 months and I was seeing muscle wasting at this time. I was concerned enough that I brought in a double dose of lupron (couldn't get the DES on time) but it offered little to no effect. My vet and I decided that the 6 month regime seems to work best for my wee ones, with little side effects when re-implanted. There seems to be a huge hormonal surge when the implants are left longer than the 6 month period....it turns Lady "B" bright orange . I presently have Lady "B" who is on her fifth DES implant and doing very well (she didn't turn orange this time ), Sprite who is on her fourth implant (and is also insulinoma) and Fun-Go who is on his first (he's had insulinoma for about 2 yrs now)
ciao

[Deleted]

Conan just got his first implant on 12/26. If your ferret enjoys oil or paste, take some along. I scruffed him with two fingers at the base of his head, pointed his nose to the oil, and he didn't even flinch when the needle went in. The vet pinched the "hole" afterwards until Conan got squirmy about it. No bleeding; still a red spot there four days later, but no signs of discomfort.

1) How did you hear about Deslorelin - Online.
2) What was your vet's take on it - Had heard of it but wasn't up on the recent US availability. Was very willing to order it.
3) How many ferrets you have tried it on - One.
4) What results you saw, and how long it took for them to show up - Will update with progress.
5) Any treatments you have supported the Des with - No.
6) Have you had a ferret in which it did NOT work, and if so how did you proceed? - N/A
7) Any side effects you may have noticed - Not yet.
8) Cost you paid for implant, include any fees that had to go with it. $170 (included office visit and implantation; additional $40 for initial office visit to diagnose)

Conan (left) at the time of administration 12/26/12, versus Drogo's (right) plush winter coat for comparison: