I feel so lost!

[whipple]

There are so many health issues to be aware of. Can someone give me a breakdown, the very basics of the major ones?

[Deleted]

Have you checked out the health section yet? It is organized into several different categories with each major disease.

holisticferret60.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=vetting

The major ones are adrenal, insulinoma, lymphoma, and digestive tract disorders (IBD, etc).

[Sherry]

Not sure what you mean by a breakdown of them, but the "big 3" are adrenal, insulinoma, and lymphoma. Yes, they can get other illness(and with ferrets, frequently will), but these 3 are the major ones.
Almost every ferret who's been neutered/spayed will develop adrenal at some point(Tumors on the adrenal glands). It's just whether or not it becomes aggressive enough to develop symptoms and warrant treatment. Most of our mill babies will
Treatment can include any/all of the following:
Surgery, lupron, melatonin(both implant and oral), deslorelin. Males will likely ultimately need propecia and/or flutamide to help counteract the effects of an enlarged prostate blocking the urethra.
Insulinoma(tumors on the pancreas) is appearing more and more to be directly related to diet. The more carbs/sugars/starches in their diet is likely to trigger it.
Prednisone/prednisolone are the most common treatments. The problem with surgery with this one is the tumors are frequently microscopic, and throughout the pancreas. Sometimes, if there are visible tumors on the pancreas, it can be debulked, and give some respite from the heavier doses of pred.
Lymphoma(malignant cancers, frequently of the gastrointestinal tract). That's the real nasty of these 3. Pred can give some quality of life for a period of time, but the odds of it overtaking them fairly quickly are pretty high.
Here is a link to some of the other illnesses they are prone to, and the treatments currently in use for them:
holisticferret60.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=disease

[whipple]

Ok, so it's the ADV and Adrenal I was getting mixed up.
So is there anyway to prevent or cure ADV?
And what is considered early neutering for a ferret? Can you do anything to prevent Adrenal?
I think it was Lymphoma my very first ferret, Peanut, had. She was about 2 years old, and got a huge lump, it seemed on her leg. Vet said it was cancer. She lost the use of her back legs and I decided to put her down.

Anyhow, this is why I could never be a vet, it takes so long for me to understand these things

[Sherry]

No. No vaccines for ADV, nor any cure. It's a horrible, horrible disease. Early neutering are what's done with all the pet store ferrets. They are neutered at around the age of 4-5 weeks.
And yes, it does sound like a type of juvenile lymphoma Peanut had. Again, another nasty they get. No idea how to avoid lymphoma, either

[katt]

ADV is essentially the ferret equivalent of HIV/AIDS. It is an immune/wasting disease. Unlike HIV though, the ADV virus can survive outside of the ferret's body for a very long time. It is actually unknown for exactly how long - all we know is Long. People who have ferrets with ADV or that have been exposed to ADV, are often recommended to wait a period of several years before getting any more ferrets. It is much more common on the East coast than the West. It is most often transferred through bodily fluids, like HIV. However it again lives outside of the body and is much more easily contracted. It is often gotten from sharing water or food dishes. But the virus can be found lingering on cage bars, bedding, toys, the carpet, etc. This is a major reason for the recommendation of waiting (I THINK it was 6 years?) before getting another ferret. If I remember correctly, ferrets housed with an ADV positive ferret should be tested regularly for the virus. Some ferrets who live with an ADV ferret never catch it. I think they are not really sure why. These ferrets, even though they may be ADV free, still should be kept well away from any other ferrets to reduce risks of passing it on. Some ferrets can also be carriers and appear healthy but show no symptoms (kind of like HIV versus AIDS). It is a horrible horrible disease, but it can usually be prevented by taking precautions. Only buy ferret things from proven ADV free homes (such as Rose with LFFR), do not allow your ferrets to interact with known ADV ferrets/carriers, etc. Obviously there will be accidents, but usually it is very avoidable. Most owners who know they have ADV ferrets will be VERY responsible about it. Sadly, not all will, and not all know until later.

In the Medical section there is a thread I believe with a youtube video of an ADV positive ferret. ;(

[maddy]

All this makes me sooo mad! I just wish ferrets could be disease free! So heartbreaking...

[whipple]

I agree! I do expect my ferret to get adrenal, sadly. At least something can be kinda done about it. The lymphoma scares the crap outta me though, same with the ADV. When you can't do anything what so ever, then it scares me. That's why I hope to get my credit fixed so I can get a credit card for just in case. Until then I'm putting as much as I can into emergency funds.

How much do the adrenal treatments usually cost? Surgery and implants? I guess it's different everywhere but I'm having a hard time finding a vet who even knows that a ferret is not a rodent

[Heather]

The cost for adrenal treatments from clinic to clinic. In Canada, the diagnostic tool, the Tennessee panel, is so expensive you will find very few actually resort to it. For me it would cost about $380. Lupron shots cost about $40 per month. I still don't know what the des implant's are going to cost me. As my vet was interested and is using my guys as a sort of opening experiment, she only charged me the shipping costs. I don't use melatonin implants (use oral) so I don't know the cost of those either.
Surgery would cost me about $1300 to $1500, with the chances of recurring fairly high I don't consider it a viable solution for me.
ciao

[acodlin]

For my personal experience (cant verify if this works for everyone) but in my males their enlarged prostate shrunk with just the deslorelin implant. Dean's was starting to get to a point to where he needed medicated, lots of little puddles all the time.. but since he got his implant, 0 problems what so ever.

[Sherry]

Here, the lupron is $42 per ferret, melatonin implant $75, surgery from $800- $1200. Can't seem to get my vet off her tail to even check out des Not sure about the costs for propecia or flutamide, not having needed it yet.
And the Tennessee panel is in excess of $300. Actually- so are titers for rabies and distemper

[Heather]

Propecia for Mad Max cost me about $50 for 24 pills
ciao

[Sherry]

Ouch!

[acodlin]

900-1100 for surgery here, 200 for ten panel, 80 per lupron shot, 100 for melatonin implant, 215 for des implant.

[goingpostal]

Costs are really going to depend on where you live, I pay $520 for an adrenalectomy, $30 per monthly Lupron shot, $150 last time I ran a Tenn. Panel. Adrenal there are lots of treatment options and often you can diagnose off symptoms rather than paying for the test.

Insulinoma, once my ferrets hit 4 or so I try to get their BG tested 2x a year, this often doesn't get diagnosed until the ferret crashes hard and needs immediate attention but it's controllable with pediapred, diet, my vet doesn't recommend surgery for that as it often comes right back

Lymphoma, that's a bad one, especially in juvenile form, I've treated it with pred, some people do chemo

There's other issues, blockages, mites, injuries, ferrets are definately not a healthy or cheap pet but keep a savings account or credit card handy and main thing is find a great, experienced ferret vet BEFORE you need them. That can be hard.