My poor little bear

January 23, 2007 10:55 AM

Will Lupron help my ferret's adrenal disease?

Just yesterday our 5 yr old ferret was diagnosed with adrenal disease. Rather than put him through surgery we've opted for a monthly shot of Lupron to halt the progression of his tumor(s) and help his fur grow back. I'm looking for advice from anyone who's gone through this with their ferret. I'm looking for Lupron side-effects, effectiveness. From what I've found it seems to be quite effective, but I prefer personal accounts. I want to make sure I'm making the right decision for my little guy.

posted by Constant Reader to pets & animals (5 comments total)

Lupron can work for a while, and I think I used it once, but melatonin implants also work, and they're cheaper and easier to find. I've gone with the melatonin in the more recent past. See the health care information at the Miami Ferret pages on adrenal options. Unfortunately, Ferret Central is outdated on this, but the information on the difficulties in finding Lupron in ferret doses was accurate last time I had to worry about it.

You might also check the archives of the Ferret Mailing List (available from the Miami Ferret site) and the ferrethealth group at Yahoo.

Best of luck with the little guy, and if you are having trouble finding a source for the Lupron, I can try to dig out the name of the pharmacy we used.
posted by dilettante at 11:21 AM on January 23, 2007

Damn it, I forgot to mention that you can get Lupron in three-or-four-month doses, although that may be what was hard to find before.
posted by dilettante at 11:27 AM on January 23, 2007

Thanks dilettante. I'm off to research melatonin now. The Miami Ferret site is also informative.
posted by Constant Reader at 11:45 AM on January 23, 2007

In my experience it works well. I believe it's only effective for up to five years but that shouldn't be a problem for you.

My wife's ferret got an adrenal tumor at 5 and she lived to be 9 with a monthly Lupron injetion. There were no side effects. Our current ferret is 5 and just got adrenal disease about 3 months ago. He just had his third injection and his hair is growing back now, so it seems to be working.
posted by flyingcowofdoom at 1:14 PM on January 23, 2007

Since he's a male, you may want to consider the surgery. I know it's expensive - been there/done that thrice! - but because the enlarged prostate gland can impede the flow of urine and cause much more dire problems, if his general health is up to it, I would consider it. I used Lupron shots on my guy after his surgery to repress regrowth.

I now have females and use Lupron exclusively on the one with adrenal disease. Hair has grown back and she's in fine fettle!

A blockage is no joke and no fun for the furry gentlemen.
posted by garbo at 2:29 PM on January 23, 2007