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Post by acodlin on Nov 17, 2010 19:12:09 GMT -5
Yes the vet spent alot of time going over him and did say his teeth make it seem like he is around 2 years old. He seems to think that while its awful early for him to have adrenal disease, that the cheap food probably pushed him into it. He was a child's plaything and when she got tired of him... well.. thats when he went up on craigslist.
I think I feel better about my choice now. I really had a hard time deciding what to do, but I think getting him to a point where he is as healthy as he will get will make me feel better about any surgical options later.
He has gained about 8oz over the past two months which makes me happy. He's about 2.75lbs now. I want to try to reintroduce raw again to all of their diets soon. When we got the new group I had to backtrack and go back to kibble till their bellies settled down from 3 food changes in under a week. Hopefully some raw will help him to build up more muscle!
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Post by mustelidmusk on Nov 17, 2010 20:24:34 GMT -5
Food does make a difference in the way a ferret holds its weight. High protein/meat will build more muscle. Cheap cat food is definitely a poor choice for a ferret. You're doing really well with Auggie, and I expect raw diet will help even more. I'm so glad you rescued this little guy!!!! I know he's already so much happier and healthier being with you -jennifer
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Post by mustelidmusk on Nov 21, 2010 16:33:58 GMT -5
Kachina's belly about 2.5 (I'll confirm later) days post surgery. -jennifer Attachments:
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Post by Jackie on Nov 21, 2010 17:38:13 GMT -5
So glad your little ones are responding to treatment! Here's an interesting article that discusses the use of deslorelin as an alternative to neutering males. I wish they would have assessed aggression in the study, but the musky smell was even less than those surgically neutered. Has anyone else read anything about this? Attachments:
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Post by jacksmomma on Nov 21, 2010 18:24:27 GMT -5
There's an ongoing study right now through Peptech (and someone else) on this very thing (using the implant in replacement of neutering). If you have a non-spayed female (the non-neutered males qualify too) you can get them in the study and have very little out of pocket expense and contribute to future knowledge. I believe they prefer the females because getting hormone levels is easier but both are valuable "data" for lack of a better term.
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Post by Jackie on Nov 21, 2010 18:35:07 GMT -5
That's great! Hopefully it will prove to be a successful alternative for spaying/neutering *crosses fingers*. Both of my girls are spayed, or I'd give it a try.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Nov 21, 2010 23:10:10 GMT -5
I have not yet read the study. But yes, I do know somebody ho was lucky enough to use deslorelin for to delay neutering her 3 hobs. Her boys did really well, smelled less and there were no aggression issues. also, my typo of 2.5 days was supposed to be 2.5 weeks post surgery. Not bad for a ferret that's over 5.5 years old I still need to review her surgery date to be accurate here. -jennifer
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Post by miamiferret2 on Nov 22, 2010 14:14:05 GMT -5
i've never seen colloidal silver shrink a ferret spleen. i've tried it in the past but maybe i just wasn't lucky. i usually get mine from a company called Silver Wings. a guy named Gary Holowicki recommended that company to me. however, he does not own ferrets (apparently he stopped owning ferrets years ago) but he swears that it works and that it shrinks spleens. like i said, never worked for me. but give it a try. i asked dr. jerry murray (very ferret knowledgeable vet) about preventative deslorelin implants and he recommended that i implant at an early age. my vet also said that it makes sense to do the once a year deslorelin to prevent adrenal. he is implanting our boy who will be 6 months old in january. fingers crossed.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Nov 22, 2010 20:59:05 GMT -5
Colloidal silver has helped shrink spleens, but like everything else with ferrets, it probably varies. So, far, all of my kids have really good small, smooth spleens. (Fingers crossed.)
-jennifer
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jan 2, 2011 11:48:39 GMT -5
Well, I've finally given up on the girls growing heir winter coats this year. The Deslorelin seemed to interrupt the shedding cycle o the girls. The boys sorted out their fur situation and grew winter coat, but the girls never figured it out.....they had already started the very beginnings of their fall shed when the implants were given. The boys had not shown any signs of shedding when the implants were given.
Other than interrupting the shedding cycle , which resulted in 2 "fully furred" girls with summer coats in winter, all is going extremely well with the Deslorelin - I' not seeing the "adrenal over-grooming behavior" or any other symptoms. I will be doing blood work on the girls and Tonto in Jan/Feb., so we'll see what the UT panels reveal. I'm aiming for a 6-month evaluation on implants.
jennifer
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Post by acodlin on Jan 4, 2011 20:26:54 GMT -5
This is Auggie my adrenal ferret, He's currently getting the 4.7mg Deslorelin implant, its been over a month.. He went from skinny and no hair to fat and wooly, my vet said he's almost too fat! Heres Auggie today Heres Auggie when we first rescued him
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jan 4, 2011 22:32:53 GMT -5
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Post by miamiferret2 on Jan 4, 2011 22:49:59 GMT -5
Auggie is a beautiful ferret. He looks a lot like our boy that passed away in Sept. Same color.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jan 22, 2011 17:32:27 GMT -5
I've noticed that over the period of time that the 4 brats had had their deslorelin (approx. 5 months now?), the efficacy of the implant varies. At times I was thinking that the implant was not working as well, and I was concerned that the drug was becoming ineffective on my brats. I could see behavioral changes (EVER-SO-MINOR) i n all brats - and they all seemed to be affected at once. The following week, the behavioral changes would regress. I'm guessing that, as with most time-released drugs, there some pulsing involved with delivery of the drug. Again, the signs are extremely subtle, but I do notice a periodic, temporary regression.
-jennifer
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Post by Heather on Jan 23, 2011 0:31:14 GMT -5
Jennifer, I've been reading that though the des is supposed to last 7 to 9 months when treating adrenal, some are finding that it's only lasting about 6 months and if you aren't quick on the pick up that the adrenal appears to be more aggressive? What are you hearing, experiencing? My guys are supposed to be getting their des shots in the next week or so. Any time bought is good time but I would like to be prepared. Pooka is responding to the lupron but it's not working well, so I know that she's not going to have a long time on it. This is her second shot, her fur is coming back but she's not doing as well as she did last month. The shot only worked for about 3 weeks and unlike the last time where the shot worked immediately, it took almost 2 weeks for any positive signs to show up. I'm hoping the des will buy her more time. Sprite and Captain Jack are just going straight on to the deslorin without trying the lupron. I'm hoping to see some improvement as both are loosing weight and their coats are becoming coarse and sparse (they're not naked like Pooka was)....more like their summer coat except the texture is all wrong ciao
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