From:
"jenniferr"
Date: 2010-01-11 15:21:24 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Tennessee Panel
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Hi,
I have never heard of any such data.
Regarding my experience with the panel, false negatives might be related to pre-adrenal conditions. I tend to start testing my ferrets in the early Sring based upon behavior and whether or not thay have had rat tail or any other unusual shedding seasons.
I have one girl that testd postive for adrenal disease with only a VERY SLIGHT elevation in estradiol only. This was in Spring - she was licking her siblings' ears too much. I put her on 5 months of lupron and reteted her again in Autmn. Her levels were normal. I stopped the lupron and in autmn and I will be retesting my girl next week. I also had a an ultraound done as a baseline for the adrenal size and shape, which was normal. My vet and I figure she is either very early adrenal or pre-adrenal.
I have another girl that I'm suspicious of that tested negative in autmn. She has always been an "over-attentive" sibling that constantly grooms her siblinggs (she's been that way even as a kit!). I'm suspicious of her because of her rat tail and her shedding was slow and patchy this fall. I tested her in fall and found normal reults with the adrenal panel. I'm testing her again next week. I suspect she'll test positive and is falling into that pre-adrenal range. If she tests positive next week, I'll do an ultrasound as a baseline of her adrenals for reference in the future. She too will be getting lupron this spring.
(In fact all 4 of my ferrets will be getting the annual preventive lupron from now on.
In Summary, I've long suspected there's a pre-adrenal or early adrenal stage that goes undetected mostt of the time. I've long considered rat tail to be a sign of hormonal acticities. I've also long suspected that hormone levels fluctuate seasonally. This suspiscion seems to be validated by Dr. Johnson Delaney's publication:
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/16072077/Update-of-Ferret-Adrenal-Disease-Etiology-Diagnosis-and-Treatment
My current choice of treatment reflects the following article:
http://www.ferretsanonymous.com/medical/oma/adrenal.html
The treatment approach is toward the bottom of the article.
That has been my experience - I have gotten negatives from the test, but I don't think they are false. I think the blood levels have been acturate, and the adrenal cases have been marginal such that the hormonal flutuations are being reflected in marginal cases.
Like all of us, I'm trying to learn how to best manage my ferrets in an afordable way. I'm hoping the deslorelin will be available soon. If my kids stop responding to the Lupron, I'll at least have another option for long=term management if the delorelin becomes available.
Best of luck finding an answer. I'd be very curious to hear about any false outcomes for the adrenal panel as well as the circumstances of the ferret /time of year for the test, etc.
Best Regards,
-jennifer
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