From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2003-01-30 18:23:56 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] AV Heartblock/Adrenal and meds
To: TR1212@aol.com
cc: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <Pine.A41.4.44+UNC.0301301322590.64082-100000@login8.isis.unc.edu>
> We can't do the surgery because of his heart and neither vet wants to
> give a lupron shot because of his heart.
Can you please elaborate a little on this? I don't think I've ever heard
that Lupron is contraindicated in ferrets with heart problems... A couple
of mine have had Lupron when they had cardiomyopathy and Level 2 AV block;
it completely controlled their adrenal symptoms and never seemed to hurt
their heart condition. Perhaps your vet knows of a risk there...
> Is there something else we can do?
There are some other meds (Proscar/Propecia seems like the current
favorite), that you can use to try to shrink the prostate; you could try
them with or without melatonin. But I think that some folks have remarked
that they tend to work best when given along with Lupron. There are some
posts in the archives from vets, especially Jerry Murphy, about the other
meds:
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=YG3295
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=YG3227
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=YG1024
You can find more by going to http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/ and
searching...
> Or, have any of you had this same problem?
I've (knocking on every piece of wood in sight) so far not had a male
ferret who couldn't pee - surgery and then Lupron when they're not
surgical candidates any longer has so far kept their ole pipes flowing
well until some other problem took them... I did ferret-sit for a
wonderful guy who had terrible blockage problems, even after a P/U
surgery, but he had a horrible time with prostatic infections (green,
pussy pee even on heavy antibiotics) that just wouldn't resolve...
Good luck with your guy, and keep us posted,
-Pam S.