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Post by Heather on May 6, 2010 1:53:38 GMT -5
Yay for the lupron shots....I'm sorry that you lost your job ciao
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on May 6, 2010 17:25:41 GMT -5
lucky I have a second job + had some app's started. I needed to get out of that job, but I was just takin my time.
Dingo played again! He was going through the tunnel backwards with dakota chassing him.
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Post by Heather on May 6, 2010 21:29:57 GMT -5
Sounds good to me ciao
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on May 11, 2010 21:31:39 GMT -5
Updates-Dingo had his third shot. He also is now within a normal range for alp. Yay! No more bad tasting meds. What signs should I be seeing with the lupron? He has been playing more. I'll list what he has been like since I got him. First day- Wild. Played like crazy. Most likely due to not being let out in months. First month- slept most of the time. Hard to feed him soup. Second month going on to third- Played twice in the beginning, but has been playing extremely rough more and more. Started to greet me for soup. He's taken on Jack, who's a good 2lbs when he's less than a lb. He still has a bald butt, but he lost a lot of weight from day one. The vet at this trip said he has gained some, not sure how much. Monsters Updates-He got a shot, but it wasn't on my bill. The only symptoms for his adrenal is hair loss. How would I tell it is working? Also, How much does the test strips cost for the free style lite? I got the meter, but now I have to get the strips. I looked online, and at walmart.com Right now I just don't have the 60 dollars extra to get the strips. Wish I could just buy a box of like 10-20 so I can at least get things tested against my vet. My vet is along 95. so I packed a lunch for myself, their leash, and stopped by a rest area with the kids. Dingo was really into everything. I'm not sure if he was happy, or scared. He was leading me to the vending area where he wanted to go behind the machines. He also stopped and would watch the cars go by. Monster didn't want to walk so I held him most of the time. Ding doesn't have any tail hair so I couldn't tell if it was puffy.
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Post by Heather on May 11, 2010 22:06:42 GMT -5
The lupron should be helping things get back to normal. In the next little while you should be able to see new hair growth, increased activity, better appetite, less aggression and possibly weight gain. You may get some of these, all of these or none of these. I'm not sure why it sometimes works, partially works and sometimes not at all. Mad Max had a series of lupron shots and nothing happened. So either the disease has progressed too far or not enought Oh the joys of ferrets It sounds to me that your guys are benefitting from their shots. That's great news. ciao
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on May 11, 2010 23:11:46 GMT -5
Thanks for the information!
I need to pick up some sulfate from the vet, and drop off some paperwork at college tomorow.
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Post by sherrylynne on May 11, 2010 23:32:19 GMT -5
And sometimes the fur only comes back the next season! So, if he doesn't get it this time around, he'll likely get his new coat come wintertime.
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Post by Heather on May 12, 2010 0:00:21 GMT -5
Yes, thanks....I forgot to mention that. Sometimes the fur doesn't come back until the next season, that's how Pooka was with the melatonin. Mad Max has all his fur, he was just leaking urine and was a tad sexual and we were hoping that the lupron might help him with this...it didn't. Nothing changed but I have noticed that both he and Captain Jack (Jack Jack wasn't treated with lupron) are both starting to settle down and Max's leaking has all but stopped. So, it appears to be more noticeable during the peak of their so called season or rut. I"m sure that as adrenal is a progressive disease that it will probably once again become a more dire issue soon, but for Mad Max lupron doesn't appear to be an answer ciao
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on May 15, 2010 1:44:34 GMT -5
Update-
I noticed yesterday, or today not sure which one that dingo's sides are going bald. He didn't have balding sides so high up on the ribs before. I'm not sure if the lupron is working...
If the lupron isn't working, and I still don't want surgery, What is the normal amount of time he stays healthy? I know they go down hill fast, but I'm kind of puzzled of what to do other than lupron and shots. Melatonin is for the fur.
Also, the fact that your guy was dribbling pee has me thinking about dingo's own constant yellow belly. The head of his private part is also enlarged. I'm not sure if that is effecting anything. I just worry about him. he he.
Monster's fur is staying the same. no new hair loss. no new growth. He isn't aggressive, but the pred is keeping him active.
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Post by Heather on May 15, 2010 13:30:12 GMT -5
I've heard that deslorin might be an answer for the ferrets that lupron doesn't work for. There was also some discussion on the ferrethealth list that if lupron and there are no positive results with the deslorin that chances are that the tumours are malignant rather than benign (as most of them are benign). As far as being able to guess at what stage your furbaby is in the di-sease..... Unfortunately, it's different with each furchild. Little Pooka didn't have a stitch of fur except on her head and tail (she looked terrible and she's 9 yrs old)....she's on melatonin only....she's has all the appearances of a happy healthy fert at the moment. Nicodemus, never lost any fur except on the base of his tail and his tummy....he never got a break and passed on 4 months after diagnosis. His adrenal had been silent and had progressed under the radar. Once his signs and symptoms started to appear, he was already too far for treatment. He had probably had adrenal for a year or more. His final diagnosis...lymphomas. He also did not respond to melatonin or lupron. ciao
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Post by mustelidmusk on May 15, 2010 17:42:53 GMT -5
Give it some time.....when the lupron is first given, the body can initially "fight" the injection and symptoms can intensify briefly. So, the first shot is not always a good indication on how well the lupron will work.
I've heard that the Deslorelin takes longer to start working than Lupron, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than lupron if you can find it.
I know it's very stressful waiting to see how well meds will work. Melitonin can be used along with the lupron. Some people give oral melatoin, others use the implants. The melatoin helps a LOT with fur. regrowth.
If your kids are getting itchy or have any mast cell tumors (those itchy scabbing/flakey bumps, I highly recommend the reishi mushrooms. They have worked wonders on my kids. The elevated hormones produce a histamine reaction, and that's what causes the itching and mast cell activity.
-jennifer
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on May 15, 2010 18:24:30 GMT -5
Dingo's on his third shot. I hope lupron works. But if it gets worse I'll ask the vet about a change in meds. He did wake up today, and let me pet him.
One thing that I found realy touching is that as I was laying on the bed watching dingo. He acutely looked at me. Not just look, look away, etc. He just sat up and was watching me. almost all of my guys "look" at you, but this has been dingo's first time looking at me. Kind of amazing to think that he might be forgiving me for giving him medicine, and taking him to get poked. ^.^ I always try to at least make the experience to the vet something new with a side trip to a park.
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on May 26, 2010 19:28:29 GMT -5
Hey all,
I know i have been off for a while. I have not been in the mood to post.
An update: Dingo has lost furr on his sides now. I am still not sure what to do. What exackly does deslorin do? Is it just another medicine like lurpon.
Monster has slowed down. He is due for a check on his blood glucose. When I take him for the test, and he comes out 60-70. Is that low enough to increase his prednisolin?
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Post by mustelidmusk on May 26, 2010 20:41:06 GMT -5
Deslorelin is similar to lupron. Once an adrenal gland is "diseased", the deslorlin (or lupron) will help to control the level of hormone that is being secreted by adrenals. Here is the latest theory on how all this works....If a gland is lightly diseased, the ferret may respond really well to the treatment, and it may dramatically slow the progression of the disease. In cases of hyperplasia only, the gland may heal IF the ferret does not carry M.E.N. genetics. If the ferret carries M.E.N. genetics and has any hyperplasia, the hyperplasia will eventually develop into cancer if he lives long enough. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if the gland is extremely diseased with cancer, the deslorelin may not make a whole lot of defference in symptoms. Here's the reasoning behind this..... healthy adrenal tissue secretes hormones in reponse to signals from the brain. In contrast, diseased adrenal tissue secretes hormones in response to the diseased tissues running amok and out of control of the brain. Lupron and deslorelin affect the brain. SO if the adrenal glands are lightly diseased, most of the excess hormone levels are coming from healthy tissue, which is still under control of the brain. This is when deslorlin and lupron will work the best. The really hard part is that adrenal symptoms that we can observe do not necessary reflect the degree of disease in the glands. Some ferrets show radical baldness and their glands may not be all that bad. Other ferrets may show only very minor behavioral differences - and they can have two completely "trashed" glands. My first two ferrets demonstrated this beautifully. Based upon the above information, you can see where the statement that "surgery is the only cure" comes from. If surgery is performed and all diseased tissue is removed (assuming we find it all), the brain will continue with its surges of hormne-stimulating signals to the body. So unless lupron or deslorelin are used to supress the brain activity, adrenal disease will once again begin to develop over time. Many (if not most) ferrets that have adrenal surgery begin showing symptoms one year after surgery. The lupron and deslorelin theoretically prevent and/or dramatically slow the re-development of additional disease as long as the meds are provided on a constant basis and the animals body does not become refractory/unresponsive to the meds. SO, why not just take out both adrenals??? Aside from the fact that the one gland is risky surgery , that I've had two bi-lateral cases. Both required meds (flourinef) to regulate electrolites, etc. The meds were given twice a day every single day. There's also another catch here that many people are not aware of.....it is possible for fat tissue to start generating hormones I know, it's all very ugly, and sometimes it seems like there's not much difference between those who treat with melatonin and those who go for "the works". In Dr. Johnson Delaney's latest paper, she reported that the non-surgery females treated with lupron seemed to outlive those who had the surgery. IN the case of the males, the prostate issues can be a problem. The thing I hate the most about all this is just not having any good way to know how advanced the disease and not knowing the best course of action and when to take it. It seems like we're always shooting craps with very high risk bets on the health of our babies I'm just starting to deal with adrenal with my current 4. I'll be going through it too, and I think I'll be dealing with 4 at once. There's a point with ferrets where you have to step back and realize that we don't have control of this. You just do your best to balance the quality of life issues with the resources and knowledge that are available at the time. Life is about quality, not quantity. I always have to remind myself that the light that burns twice as bright burns half as long. This is so true for ferrets. Hugs to you and your fuzzies -jennifer
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Post by AnimalFarm2006 on May 31, 2010 19:40:20 GMT -5
Thank you so much for the information! I have tried reading up on adrenal, but things just seem to pass by in a blur leaving questions. Your post kind of filled in the gaps. The reason why I have been asking so many questions is just because of the issue of not knowing what exackly to do next. Lupron doesn't seem to be working for dingo. Monster only had his first shot. Atleast dingo is just at a stand still in behavior issues. You are right that the hidden parts of the disease drive you bannanas!
OH! Prostate issues. Isn't that his thingy? Dingo's thingy is realy large. Would that effect him? I don't see any peeing issues with him. And one behavior question- I am having a big issue with everyone pooping under my bed. I have put blankets under my bed. Toys. Made a better litter box. They just poop in the middle of the floor, or on the blankets. Do you have any ideas? They are starting to tear up my carpet.
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