From:
"Karen McCabe"
Date: 2009-05-04 08:42:25 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Melatonin questions
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, AFERRETVET@... wrote:
>
> Hello again Karen,
> The side effect/toxicity that she describes was more
> likely from the ketamine/acepromazine that she used
> to sedate the ferret for blood sample collection and to
> inject the implant.
Would side effects from ketamine/acepromazine not show for two weeks and last for 90 days?
Paragraph four, exact and complete (as was requested), of the article....
>>>
A fourth implant was placed in one of the two remaining female ferrets in the Lupron versus adrenalectomy study. A microchip was used as the placebo in the control ferret (Bonnie). These females had been stable on Lupron for more than 2 years,and both had adrenals that appeared just slightly enlarged on ultrasonography performed shortly before implantation. The melatonin implant appeared to be similarly effective as monthly administration of Lupron. However, this is not a statistical number for efficacy determination, and no second implant was inserted at 90 days nor was the study continued. This was because of the side effects in this 560-g female: She became so lethargic within 2 weeks of implantation that she needed to be roused daily to eat. This was not her normal behavior, and no physical or medical reason for the lethargy could be found. Her activity level gradually increased during the study period and was deemed normal by the end of April. Lupron therapy was resumed
in May, and this ferret remains stable hormonally with normal daily activity and behavior to date. This leads me to put a note of caution on using the implant in ferrets weighing less than 600 g, as the dosage may be too high. Based on other species, extreme lethargy is one of the signs of melatonin overdose.Comparisons between the two female ferrets with adrenal disease appear in Table 2.
>>>
Also, lethargy was also noted in the males as well.
Paragraph three....
>>>
No change was noted in the males appetites or sexual behavior during the study. However, the three that received the implants were judged to be less active than usual based on their activity in playgroups.
>>>
Karen McCabe
http://www.cinnamonsprite.net
[Moderator's question:
The paragraph on the female says "within two weeks"
instead of a firm timing. Does the article say exactly
when this occurred? If it happened sometime within
a space of two weeks that is a pretty large timeline,
and it does take the liver a while to clear out ketamine.
When I worked with chimps years ago we had to space
even low doses of any of the injectable anesthesia
types used to sedate for placement of very thin wires
(that were used on the researchers, too, for human
comparisons but with no sedation for humans) at least
2 weeks apart to be sure the livers had removed all of
it. Granted that was 30 years ago but one of the types
was ketamine for the young chimps -- though not the
older ones because ketamine has psychological effects
on older ones and those can be very unpleasant. Asking
because "within" can be read more than one way in
this context. To me it reads to mean either "sometime
within the 2 week mark after the implant was used the
ferret became very lethargic", or perhaps more likely that
"the ferret was lethargic for up to 2 weeks after implant".
I can see where the wording used in the paragraph is
unclear, though I'd never interpreted it the way you did
above. What is needed is a dated timeline. Is there one
in the article? Sadly, I don't recall one.
I don't know who long it takes ferret levers to clear
ketamine fully, not how long reactions to ketamine can
last if or when those occur. (Part of my own question)
The paragraph does not seem to indicate that the effects
lasted 90 days, but instead that the choice was made at the
90 day mark to not use it.]
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