Major Ferret Illnesses part 3
Cryosurgery is frquently used by veterinarians, especially when the right adrenal gland is involved. This procedure actually freezes the tissues with a liquid nitrogen to kill the cells that are frozen. There are many benefits to cryosurgery including: decreased bleeding, quicker operative time, quicker recovery time and being an easier procedure to perform. Regardless of which surgical procedure is utilized, within a few weeks hair growth should begin, body weight should increase, as will their activity level. As this option is being used more and more, the high incidence of recurrence is being seen. The risk still remains in first cutting through all the muscle in order to reach the gland.
Lupron Depot Treatment
If your ferret is not a good candidate for surgery,
usually due to age, overall health, and/or other
medical conditions, your ferret will most likely
be treated by drug therapy using Lupron Depot.
During normal function, the hypothalamus produces
GnRH which is released to the pituitary gland
in a pulsating release which signals the release
of both LH and FSH (primarily LH) which tells
the gonads and the adrenal glands to produce
the sex hormones.
Lupron Depot
(GnRH analog) works by binding to pituitary receptors.
Lupron sends a steady stream of GnRH to the pituitary
which becomes desensitized and stops producing
LH and FSH (the pituitary can only handle the pulsating
signals). By suppressing LH & FSH from being
produced, the sex hormones will also stop being
produced in response. With continued use, the decrease
in hormones being produced have lasted for more
than 5 years and results being seen as early as
2-4 weeks. During this time, the vulva will return
to normal size, hair loss will stop and within
1-2 months hair regrowth will begin.
Lupron
Depot is available as a 1, 3 or 4 month injection
(100 - 500 micrograms/ kg per month), with higher
dosages often being used: ie; 4 month depot at
2000 mcg/kg.
It is important to note that while this can be a very effective treatment option for your ferret, surgery is still considered the first line of treatment. Lupron Depot will NOT cure your ferret of adrenal disease, it will attempt to maintain the condition of your ferret and hopefully stop it's progression. Melatonin is often used in conjunction with Lupron and sometimes used alone. Lupron will not work if the gland is malignant.
It's important
to consider that while Lupron may stop the progression,
and you can increase the amount and frequency of
the drug administered, after awhile it is quite
possible it will have no effect (the adrenal glands
will continue to produce the sex hormones on their
own without any LH or FSH signals). By the time
this happens, chances are the tumor is malignant
and your ferret may no longer be a surgical candidate.
Careful, open, honest conversation will need to
take place with your veterinarian to decide on
the right course of treatment, as many factors
come into play.
Recently there
has been talk about some veterinarians using and
suggesting the 24-hour Lurpon injection as a 1-month
protocol. It is important that you understand the
difference between this version and the 1, 3 & 4
month depot version. The actual amount of time
the pituitary gland is desensitized with this version
and stops the LH and FSH production is only a few
hours (vs a steady flow over 1-4 months) followed
by the high activity which is common for all forms.
If you do not repeat the injections daily, you
are providing no therapeutic benefit and might
actually be doing more harm than good due to that
initial burst of hormone activity.
Continued on the Major Ferret Illnesses Part 4
