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Post by weeksl08 on Jul 23, 2008 12:41:19 GMT -5
Is it safe to give this as a preventative? I know I have some at my mom's house because the doctor said it would help me sleep. It didn't.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Jul 23, 2008 13:43:03 GMT -5
I assume you're talking about supplementing your ferrets with melatonin to possible prevent/mitigate the risk of adrenal disease? Anyway, the problem with giving Melatonin preventively is that we have no clue if it works, and it does lose its effect over time. If you give it now and it turns out to NOT prervent adrenal disease, the melatonin may be lesseffective or ineffective when yo really need it. I haven't heard anything about using melatonin sporadically. I'll see if I can find somebody who may have more info on that. -jennifer
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Post by weeksl08 on Jul 23, 2008 13:47:01 GMT -5
I assume you're talking about supplementing your ferrets with melatonin to possible prevent/mitigate the risk of adrenal disease? -jennifer Yes, sorry about that! Next time I will be more clear!!! I was just asking because I heard a ferret shelter mom say that she gives yearly shots of Lupron as a preventative, but I know that is very expensive. If the effects wear off, I wouldn't want to risk giving melatonin just incase one were to become adrenal.
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Post by Forum Administrator on Jul 25, 2008 21:12:45 GMT -5
Honestly I wouldnt do it as a preventative simply because your ferret might come down with adrenal but you wouldnt know because the melatonin will mask the symptoms. If you see the symptoms pop up you can get your ferret in for surgery (which is the most effective option IMO), but if you have the symptoms masked by melatonin, you might not even know they are sick until the melatonin starts to lose effectiveness (which it eventually does). Does this make sense?
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Post by amyandfuzzies6 on Jul 31, 2008 15:37:27 GMT -5
Honestly I wouldnt do it as a preventative simply because your ferret might come down with adrenal but you wouldnt know because the melatonin will mask the symptoms. If you see the symptoms pop up you can get your ferret in for surgery (which is the most effective option IMO), but if you have the symptoms masked by melatonin, you might not even know they are sick until the melatonin starts to lose effectiveness (which it eventually does). Does this make sense? I have to agree with Giuli. If it's not broke, don't fix it! I have 2 adrenals that are currently on daily melatonin. The first year I saw success with one daily dose. This 2nd winter I had to up the dose and give 3xs daily, but it did help! From my research, much higher doses can be tolerated without ill effect. I did not reduce the dose for the summer and have noticed both regrowing hair they lost this past winter. I'll make sure to post an update this next winter as we'll being going into the 3rd year on the melatonin - nothing else other than their daily flaxseed oil and periodic Kefir (for probiotics).
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