Message Number: YPG464 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Sukie Crandall
Date: 2006-12-10 21:25:09 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Reaction to Melatonin Implant
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com

I wonder if something in the capsule itself presented a problem?

Like your vet said, though, there could have been a completely
separate cause.

Here are the possible problems mentioned earlier that I can think of
offhand:

1. One ferret got a melatonin implant and died soon after, but the
necropsy showed an
enlarged heart, and the only thing that will do that is a long enough
standing heart
disease like dilative cardiomyopathy so there was hidden heart
disease. It happens;
sometimes it can be hard enough to spot a problem in time that we
have all been in that
spot of having a ferret with a hidden health problem once a person
has had ferrets long
enough.

2. One very small ferret in a study became extremely lethargic and
the researchers
wondered if smaller ferrets need less melatonin, but it turned out
that an injectable which
can cause problems was also used.

3. Because melatonin helps the body with two opposing pancreatic
functions some have
suggested that some ferrets with insulinoma or with diabetes may be
helped or hindered
by supplementing melatonin, but until studies are finished those are
suppositions, and
even then there may be nuances which differ how individuals respond
because certainly
other differences in how individuals with insulinoma have responded
to medication or
even on rare occasions to diet have been previously mentioned.

I can't off-hand recall any described which are similar to what you
mention, but memory is
funny thing...

All of these are in the FHL Archives so can be checked there. The
URL is in my signature lines below and it can be linked to from the
FHL site (and visa versa). There are over 5 years of posts in the
archives -- I guess closer to 6 years now if I recall right.

Sukie (not a vet)
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http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/





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