Message Number: YG6156 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Mike Janke
Date: 2001-08-06 23:53:00 UTC
Subject: Re: lupron ferret life expectancy

I don't know about one with a tumor that is as invasive as yours
sounds, but in many cases, a ferret could live for a couple years on
Lupron... perhaps even the remainder of its natural life. Cancerous
adrenal glands don't often metastisize, but I don't know
what "attached to a lot of stuff" does for the prognosis.

Maybe you should find a very good surgeon and have him consult with
your vet to see if surgery might still be an option. This offers the
best chance for a cure, which Lupron does not.

I don't believe anyone can tell you what kind of death to expect or
when. I've had a number of ferrets with adrenal disease, and I've
lost a few, but none have actually died as the result of the adrenal
disease. It was always something unrelated which eventually took
their lives. By the way, I have one ferret that has been on Lupron
for almost two years now and he's doing fine.

mike


--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Kalee Cline <kalee_cline@y...> wrote:
> Hello. I have a ferret that was diagnosed with
> adrenal disease. The vet opened him up, and it was
> attached to a lot of stuff. Being afraid of him
> "bleeding out," he was sewed back up without taking
> anything out. Now, he is on Lupron. My question:
> how long do ferrets live on Lupron? I know that you
> can't give me an exact, but are we talking weeks,
> months, years? Also, what will he die of? I know
> that Lupron doesn't kill the cancer, so he will die of
> cancer related stuff... but what is that? What should
> I be looking for? Is this something where I need to
> think about when to put him to sleep? If so, I just
> want to know what to expect so that I can think about
> this ahead of time and not at the last minute. Do
> they die in their sleep, or of kidney failure, or
> diabetic type comas, what?
>
> Thanks,
> Kalee
>
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