From:
Mike Janke
Date: 2001-04-15 22:48:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Adrenal surgery vs Lupron therapy
I would feel a bit uncomfortable with the "fine, you do whatever you
want" attitude. At 2.5 years old and in otherwise good health,
surgery is definitely the way to go. Maybe it's time for a second
opinion. $74 for a shot of the monthly Lupron seems a bit high, but
I suppose it depends on the actual dosage of the shot and how many
ferrets the vet treats with Lupron. My vet charges $28 for 150mcg of
the monthly Lupron.
Also, I personally wouldn't waste my money on an ultrasound, but
that's just my opinion. With the swollen vulva AND the positive
results of the tennesse panel, what else does one need.
As for the 2.27mg diazoxide dose for the under one-pound ferret... I
guess that's about right for a starting dose. "Ferrets, Rabbits and
Rodents..." recommends 5-10mg/kg q12h (every 12 hours) as a starting
point. Since she's less than 0.5kg, that sounds about right. But
hey, I'm no vet! I was primarily commenting on the cost factor
before.
Mike
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Kim" <dagger4u@h...> wrote:
> I have a ferret just diagnosed with adrenal. She has a swollen
vulva.
> No other symptoms. We did the tenn panel on her and all her
hormones
> are elevated. She is 2 1/2. Very healthy. This vet stated he now
> wants to do an ultrasound (to look for enlarged glands), and then
he
> wants to start Lupron therapy. I always thought that if the ferret
was
> healthy, that surgery should be in order, not Lupron. I thought
that
> Lupron was something to use when surgery wasn't an option.
> Please help me understand this. I know this vet is very
experienced
> with ferrets, but I don't know how I feel about this.
>
> Plus, at the price of getting the monthly injections for the rest
of
> her life, she could have the surgery and be done with it. (he is
> planning on charging $74 bucks a month) I think that is way too
high.
> When I stated I was part of a group that discussed ferrets and
asked
> certain questions, he acted upset and kept saying "fine, you do
> whatever you want" I wasn't happy at all with this. Am I being
too
> weird about all this?? Or am I way out of line here....geez. I
don't
> know. Don't get me wrong, if Lupron is the way to go, fine, I jsut
> thought surgery was better. Please advise.
>
> KIM
> PS- Mike, the ferret that is on the Diazoxide 2.27 mg BID is
extremely
> small (she was the runt) and doesn't even weigh 1 pound. She is
> healthy, not skinny, just very small. Maybe that accounts for the
> very small dose? What do you think? I'm not sure about the math
part
> of it. Any help would be appreciated.