From:
Steve Austin
Date: 2003-06-01 12:52:50 UTC
Subject: Long-term pred use
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <20030601.085256.2548.0.kazpat1@juno.com>
I guess anything is possible, just for comparison every ferret I have had
with adrenal disease- I would
say about 10 of the 11( including rescues ) were not on prednisone, so
there is
definitely something much more problematic in ferrets that makes them
just prone to it.
In the ferrets I have had on prednisone ( for more than 1 month) , I
think
only 3, one developed adrenal disease ( fur loss, swollen vulva)- she was
also older and had unexplained anemia when I got her as a rescue, and
insulinoma. It is possible the adrenal disease was there all along
causing
the original anemia in the first place.
As far as steroid resistance, or not, wouldn't it more likely cause a
cushingoid
syndrome from the excessive cortisol?- which at least in humans is moon
faces,
weight gain, hypertension, insulin resistance, not sure what it is in
ferrets.
I just don't get how it causes the adrenal cortex that produces the sex
hormones
to be overstimulated. Plus, wonder if that would have anything to do
with the
rate of adrenal carcinomas and adenomas, or are we just speculating on
adrenal hyperplasias?
Certainly there are no studies out there, with so many ferret owners on
the
list we could only gather very rough data by antecdoctal stories like my
own.
I love all the input on this list, where else can we even get so many
ferret
experienced people and vets together to run over these thoughts, and to
reflect
on what we have seen?
Patty
On Sun, 1 Jun 2003 04:46:55 -0300 "Karin" <karinkonecny@ig.com.br>
writes:
> Hi,
> I still think steroids cause adrenal problems. In my opinion and
> experience ferrets aren't steroids resistent and I couldn't find any
> scientific study about it yet.
> Karin - the vet from Brazil
> -----
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