From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2008-01-09 18:39:11 UTC
Subject: RE: Not Treating Adrenal Disease
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "shannon itrich" <happymotherof5@...> wrote:
>
> To veterinarians and knowledgeable FHL members,
>
> I have an adrenal ferret. He has been diagnosed but was not given any meds
> is this normal or should I go to another vet? I want to help him as much as
> I can.
>
Adrenal disease MUST be treated.
Here is a past post from the archives on WHY:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG5054
BEGIN QUOTE
Dear Katharine:
Actually tonight I am working on a promised article to Ferrets Mag about adrenal disease.
But I think that Melissa and Sukie have covered the dire possibilities very well (and they are
very real.)
However, even under the best conditions, when there is no malignancy, there is no bone
marrow toxicosis, there is no prostatic cystic disease - even the most mild prediction is a
sad
one. Ferrets with adrenal disease have a diminished quality of life - they have progressive
muscle loss, low grade anemia, they tend to redistribute weight to the abdomen, further
making
it difficult to walk, they have an increased incidence of gastric ulcers as a result of the
stress of
chronic illness, decreased bone density - none life-threatening, but all life-
compromising. Even
medical treatment, which is not my preferred way of treating adrenal disease, gives slight
relief
to symptoms. Doing nothing is not kind and not in a ferret's best interest.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
END QUOTE
If surgery is not possible:
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/adrenal.htm
Finding a Ferret Vet:
Ferret Veterinarian Lists:
http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
Shelters and the vets they use:
http://www.supportourshelters.org
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/vets.htm
http://www.ferret.org/links/vets.shtm
http://www.ferretuniverse.com/index.html
http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html
http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
UK vets:
http://www.geocities.com/houseferrets13uk/Vets.html
British Columbia vets:
http://www.ferrets.org/Veterinarian_Listings.htm
California vets:
http://www.ferretnews.org/clinic.html
California vets:
http://www.ferretsanonymous.com/medical.html
Specialists anywhere:
http://www.vetcontact.com/en/vet.php?k=91
Notice that the Files section of the FHL also contains a list
of compounding pharmacies and the Archives and Links contain
info on where to get some meds.
WHEN MEDS MUST BE USED INSTEAD OF SURGERY:
Notice in past posts from
AFERRETVET
that is is best to combine the use of Lupron DEPOT (not 24 hour
Lupron) and Melatonin implant. Later when it is available in the
U.S. deslorelin will probably be better in that combination than
Lupron. Another related med is also under study as are some
other approaches and prevention work.
There are prevention posts also in the SEPARATE FHL Archives. (See
my signature lines for URL.
Also there: less effective but helpful things when money is very
pinched and there is not an alternative.
Very important in the archives: medical and surgical approaches
for some of the complications of untreated adrenal disease, or
adrenal disease for which the meds are not sufficient, or complete
excision was not possible and then meds were not sufficient.
For those who are new: It always is good practice (and required
by the rules) to NOT target a post to one individual or one group
of individuals (example vets) because as this topic and info
received illustrates, often the best chance of getting useful replies
happens when seeking info from a range of individuals. Besides,
sometimes many professionals are too busy to be on-line or are
away at conferences in large numbers. That is a tip in the FHL Rules
(in the Files section) which is based on almost 7 years of FHL
experience and most of the rules are even based upon earlier experiences
of vets and were originally vet decreed.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
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