From:
"Janice Leenhouts"
Date: 2002-10-13 19:02:48 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] melatonin for treating adrenal
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <003401c272eb$1fa73cd0$c1fea8c0@youryn89p666bj>
Suzi,
I have two ferrets on Melatonin. The first one we tried Melatonin on was
Skittles who had an advanced case of untreated adrenal disease when I
adopted her. Her tail and back-end were hairless, her vulva was huge, and
she had a heavy, constant discharge from her vulva. My vet operated on her
in October of last year. Unfortunately, it was her right adrenal gland that
was affected and could only be de-bulked. We then started Lupron injections
a month later when none of her symptoms had abated. We used Lupron monthly
until about February and then switched to Melatonin and Arimidex. It took
about 2 months for her hair to completely grow back and her vulva to
shrink. It took another several months (probably June or July) for the
discharge to be almost completely gone. She is still on Melatonin and
Arimidex and has the most luxurious coat of all my ferrets.
Ferret #2, Baby Girl, had adrenal surgery two years ago for a left
adrenal gland. Her only symptom was the hair loss (nothing like Skittles -
we caught it as soon as it started). She then was started on Lupron when we
saw the hair loss start again, knowing we had to be seeing a right adrenal
gland involvement. After 2-3 months on Lupron with no improvement, we
started the Arimidex and Melatonin. Her hair is softer than it has ever
been - she finally grew back the hair on her tummy from her first surgery -
and she has no new symptoms.
Hope this helps,
Janice, Dinky, Baby Girl, and Skittles