From:
"Jeff"
Date: 2010-12-13 04:59:20 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] DESLORELIN IMPLANT: How long does it work?
To: "Ferret Health List" <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
I=E2=80=99m relating my recent experience with the Deslorelin implant i=
n hopes that it might help others to maintain a good quality of life for a =
longer period of time for their ferrets with adrenal disease.=20
I lost my boy Pop on Thursday of this week due directly or indirectly t=
o adrenal disease. It=E2=80=99s really hard to know for sure, as I=E2=80=
=99ll explain, but I=E2=80=99m left with the gut feeling that if I had gott=
en him his second Deslorelin implant sooner than I did, then he might have =
had more time with me.
I got Pop in December of 2009, at which time he was, at best guess, 3-4=
years old. He was severely malnourished and thin, had a large chordoma on=
the end of his tail, and had rapid hair loss on the neck and shoulders. H=
is prostate was also enlarged and he was having urination issues. I got hi=
m a Deslorelin implant as soon as I could, about 10 days after I got him, a=
nd it very quickly helped. His prostate and urination were back to normal i=
n less than a week, and within about 6 weeks his bald spots were filling in=
, and his coat as a whole was improving. We had his chordoma removed, and =
between a nutritious diet, the implant, and lots of love, Pop became a very=
active, healthy boy.=20
In my mind I always planned on getting him a second implant around 12 m=
onths after the first, as that=E2=80=99s the =E2=80=98general=E2=80=99 time=
table that was reported in everything I=E2=80=99d read up until recently. =
Unfortunately, I don=E2=80=99t think that timetable applied to Pop. By the =
time that I noticed him starting to go downhill in September, I believe his=
adrenal tumor had already grown quite a bit. I had an ultrasound done in =
late October, and it revealed a very large (2.6 cm x 2.9 cm) tumor on his R=
IGHT adrenal gland. The left adrenal appeared to be okay, and no other tumo=
rs were noted in his abdominal area (or anywhere else). I believe that the=
tumor had started to increase in size around June or July, as he started t=
o have chronic diarrhea in July. As it turns out, the diarrhea was caused =
by pressure on the GI tract from the adrenal tumor. I got his diarrhea und=
er control in August with a small daily dose of prednisolone, but at the ti=
me (July/August), neither the vet nor I saw the connection between the diar=
rhea and his adrenal disease.
Right after I had the ultrasound done near the end of October, I had a =
second implant put in (10 months after the first). I was hoping that betwe=
en the fresh implant and increased doses of prednisolone, that Pop might co=
me around again, as he was really no longer playing much, his abdominal are=
a was distended much of the time, and he was showing signs of discomfort. =
For a few weeks, the combination of the increased pred and the new implant=
did help, but he began going downhill fairly rapidly last week, and by thi=
s Thursday I had to put him to sleep.
I feel that if I had given him the second implant AT 6 MONTHS, then perh=
aps the tumor would not have grown like it did, and he might have continued=
on being active and pain free, at least for longer than he did. I have no=
way of knowing for sure, but seeing that the second implant did help for a=
few weeks, despite fighting against a huge right adrenal tumor, I am left =
with that impression.=20
My point is this: I feel that the Deslorelin implant helped Pop tremen=
dously. But I also feel that a ferret with more advanced adrenal disease l=
ike Pop should be RE-implanted no later than 6 months. If you wait longer,=
you may be taking a chance that the adrenal tumor or tumors are growing un=
detected, and by the time that you realize this, you may have lost too much=
precious time with your ferret.
Jeff
In Loving Memory of Neo, Trinity, Morphy, Possum, Pip, Pop, Sabrina, Minnie=
Mouse, Misty, Frodo, Baggins, and Mr. Parker
Caring for Luna, Baby Girl, Dozer, and Hunny
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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