From:
B STEELMAN
Date: 2004-11-30 13:51:35 UTC
Subject: melatonin fears
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <14688457.1101837017339.JavaMail.nobody@vanadium.smartgroups.com>
Sorry, my first posting here, so if I violate some protocol, I apologize ahead of time.
I had been giving ferrets oral melatonin in their soup for years but had seen no
obvious affects, pro or con. Then exactly a year ago, the brand of melatonin I had
been using became unavailable locally. Without thinking too much of it, I picked up
a different brand in a large retail chain drug store. That lapse of thought ultimately
cost the lives of four of my 'children'. Rather the bottle was tainted in some form,
the batch was bad, whatever, I lost four due to internal bleeds. They literally bled to
death, suddenly and in minutes, at different times. This was checked and verified
by my vet, so it was not my imagination or coincidence. If fact my little girl died
right in front of the doctor. This was a brand of melatonin intended for human use.
It was in the same doses I had been using all along, so overdose, we are talking
micrograms in a quart of soup, was not the problem.
Vanessa had completed her two week recheck after adrenal surgery. She was fine,
everything had gone well, she was healing well. The doctor was preparing her to
come home when she suddenly projectile vomited the majority of her blood volume
6 foot across the room and onto the wall. She was dead before the doctor could
even react.
I tell you this horrendous story so you can understand the depth of my fear of
melatonin.
I have seen four deaths from it.
Now to this year. I have an 8 1/2 - 9 1/2 yr old male marked white. He has
significant cardiomyopothy, insulinoma and adrenal. At this time he is he has had
3, 30 day Lupron shots, 400mcgs, IM, to no avail. Obviously he is not a surgery
candidate.
I keep reading glowing reports about the melatonin implants and the oral
melatonin, but now you understand my fear. I have not seen one article on side
affects, possible or otherwise and nothing describing anything like what we went
through. The lupron alone is not going to stop Abu's hairloss and the other
symptoms, but I will not be responsible for killing him in such a horrendous way.
That's why I am posting. There must be legitimate studies and articles done by
researchers, vets, pathologists, etc some where that I can review and I can take to
my vet that can perhaps assuage our fears. The more clinical the information,
probably the better, especially for my vets. Can anyone recommend where I might
find that sort of detailed information?
Thank you.
Brenda
[Moderator's Note: there are a very large number of studies of melatonin use in
ferrets spread over many decades. None encountered such a concern in anything I
have heard of or read.
If the internal bleeding was from this rather than form the ferrets getting into some
poison, hazardous cleaning product, hazardous cosmetic product, hazardous
gardening product, hazardous automotive product, etc. then the melatonin very
possibly had been TAMPERED with. I hope that you and your vet actually saw to it
that the melatonin itself was both reported to and tested by the authorities. There
aren't many of the type of sick people out there who tamper with products but it
happens; we encountered one ourselves in a tampering with an automotive product
used in manufacturing plant lots that destroyed a new car we bought about a
decade ago.
I don't know which office such a product tampering would be reported to but your
local police may be able to tell you or perhaps someone here could provide you with
a URL or toll free phone number.
As for articles, you will find some of them mentioned in past posts from
AFERRETVET in the FHL Complete Archives http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org -- SDC]