From:
brettm@uga.edu
Date: 2006-02-14 14:56:21 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] RE: Using Melatonin Implants as a preventative
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
As Sukie said, there is no surgery, and, thus, no anesthesia is needed. The miamiferret article will answer most of the other questions. Your vet must order the implants, and ordering information can be found on Melatek's Web site at http://www.melatek.net/pages/1/index.htm. The implants come already packaged in a needle, so all your vet has to do is inject it under the loose skin over the shoulder blades, which is pretty painless for a ferret.
For prophylactic (preventative) use, there isn't much point in implanting a ferret as a kit, as near as I can figure. I think the first opportunity past the age of normal puberty would be appropriate. Say 8-12 months of age.
As for an upper limit, I don't think there is one. While we don't yet know what effect the implants might have over the lifetime of a non-adrenal ferret, I have not yet been able to find any credible evidence of side effects that might counterindicate using them in older animals. We know adrenal ferrets have safely had 10 or more implants over a 2-3 year period, and it would take 5-6 years for a non-adrenal ferret to receive that many implants, by which age the implants would probably be the least of their problems.
I have heard two versions of the best time to implant. Dr. Murray tells me early spring and late fall, which implies March and November to me. Earlier in this thread it was reported that someone named Tim at Melatek recommended April and September for prophylactic use. Personally, the March/November schedule seems to make more biological sense to me in terms of what we're trying to accomplish -- matching melatonin levels to the "natural" cycle -- so I'm planning to suggest that to my vet, unless someone wants to jump in and tell me I've made a horrible misinterpretation.
Brett
*SLMW 1.0* "Ferrets don't explode, you say?" -- J. Cleese
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