Grumble, grumble. Vibes, or something?

AllieMackie

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#1
Guess who most likely has adrenal disease?

Really, you'll never guess, because it could be any of my trio. ;)

Freya.

Did my weekly inspection/grooming today, and since last week her entire base of tail has balded, plus a patch on her right flank. She's showing no other symptoms yet - vulva is fine, weight is fine, thirst is fine, etc - but since the bald patches are so prominent and exactly where they usually show up, I'm not optimistic about it being seasonal shedding.

So... vibes that it's simply adrenal disease? ;) Adrenal isn't an ideal diagnosis of course, but it's a common one, and luckily it's treated fairly easily over the long term.

I took her outside for some photos, to sweeten the deal for vibes. :)







And a pic of her balding bum... hard to see, I ruffled her fur to see it better. Completely bald at her tail base and two bald patches on her rump.
 

AllieMackie

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#7
Thanks all. <3

If it is indeed adrenal, which it seems to be, she'll be started on Lupron injections and hopefully be put on a waitlist for a Desorelin implant, which lasts around a year, treats the symptoms of adrenal very well, and is overall a lot more cost-effective than Lupron. Many of the rescue ferrets have the Deslorelin implant and are doing very well with it.

Adrenal isn't an immediate death sentence and many ferrets (including a ton in the ferret rescue) live long lives post-diagnosis. That said, I'm still a bit sad about the whole thing. Treatable or not, common or rare, it's always a little disheartening when your pet has a terminal illness.
 

JessLough

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#8
You can still guess! What do YOU think it is? ;)
Nonono, I no longer play that game, after the last 3 ferrets I stated what I thought was wrong DIED. :p

It really does look like adrenal, though :( Poor Freya, gonna go bald xD (For some reason, I find the thought of that as frikkin ADORABLE). It *would* be your luck that like, the 2nd youngest of the 6 gets Adrenal first. :p
 

AllieMackie

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#9
Nonono, I no longer play that game, after the last 3 ferrets I stated what I thought was wrong DIED. :p

It really does look like adrenal, though :( Poor Freya, gonna go bald xD (For some reason, I find the thought of that as frikkin ADORABLE). It *would* be your luck that like, the 2nd youngest of the 6 gets Adrenal first. :p
Since her balding will probably get worse before it gets better, expect some amusing photos.
 

Fran101

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#10
**VIBES** For Freya!
It seems like sooo many ferrets get adrenal :( heart breaking! but I hope it's just some seasonal unladylike balding and nothing else! She is such a cute little healthy thing!
 

JessLough

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#11
I saw Freya's cute little bum <3 <3 I was told I was way too excited to see a ferret's butt, but, well, OMG CUTE! (which is weird, considering what it means :p )

Fran - Adrenal is the #1 cancer affecting ferrets.
 

AllieMackie

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#13
Update:

Went to the vet today, she got poked and prodded, and she is indeed adrenal. Left side, likely benign. It's the most common type of adrenal in ferrets.

So, we gave her a dose of lupron, and she's on the wait list for a deslorelin implant. The vet thinks the deslorelin should be very good for her, especially because she's quite young.

Oh, and she, and likely my others, have ear mites. :p Jess, I'll give you some ivomectrin, LOL.
 

JessLough

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#14
Oh, and she, and likely my others, have ear mites. :p Jess, I'll give you some ivomectrin, LOL.
*Grumbles* DAMNIT ALLISON. I just got rid of those **** things! :rofl1: No seriously, oh no, not ear mites :p Cause no ferrets have those... ever. I swear, they are like the ferret equivalent of lice, you bring your ferret to a play date and all the sudden, EAR MITES.
 

Aleron

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#16
Sorry to hear your ferret has Adrenal, hope the treatments help her get back to her normal self soon!

**VIBES** For Freya!
It seems like sooo many ferrets get adrenal :( heart breaking!
It really is quite sad and a fairly modern problem for ferrets. Unfortunately, the triggers for Adrenal are all things that go with typical pet ferret ownership. Altering, stress, exposure to artificial light cycles, etc. It is safe to assume most pet ferrets will develop adrenal disease and/or insulinoma* if they live long enough to, unless they are cared for drastically differently from "the norm".

Likely in the future, ferrets will be "vaccinated" for adrenal disease as preventive medicine. It is basically a hormonal problem and the current thinking is if you can "pre-treat" with appropriate hormones at the appropriate times it can prevent ferrets from developing Adrenal or at least developing it at young ages. My youngest Adrenal ferret was about 14 months old when she developed symptoms :(

*Insulinoma is the other most common health issue in ferrets - pancreatic tumors which cause blood sugar problems and eventually death. Insulinoma is caused by ferrets eating a processed diet which is not species-appropriate for them. Basically, the issue has to do with feeding ferrets diets that contain carbs in any meaningful amount. So pretty much, feeding them kibble which is not a great situation for pet animals to be in.
 

AllieMackie

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#17
Likely in the future, ferrets will be "vaccinated" for adrenal disease as preventive medicine. It is basically a hormonal problem and the current thinking is if you can "pre-treat" with appropriate hormones at the appropriate times it can prevent ferrets from developing Adrenal or at least developing it at young ages. My youngest Adrenal ferret was about 14 months old when she developed symptoms :(

*Insulinoma is the other most common health issue in ferrets - pancreatic tumors which cause blood sugar problems and eventually death. Insulinoma is caused by ferrets eating a processed diet which is not species-appropriate for them. Basically, the issue has to do with feeding ferrets diets that contain carbs in any meaningful amount. So pretty much, feeding them kibble which is not a great situation for pet animals to be in.
Ferrets can already receive the Deslorelin implant as a means of prevention. The downside is that Deslorelin is expensive. Not as expensive as Lupron, but still a hefty price tag for a single preventative injection.

Ferrets can eat kibble and have less chance of developing insulinoma by sticking to grain free cat and ferret diets (mostly cat... IMO the only good grain free ferret diet is EVO). Jess' old boy Rascal's insulinoma symptoms are managed by her feeding him entirely grain free, and some raw IIRC. I hope to prevent insulinoma myself by feeding grainfree and avoiding grain and sugar inclusive treats, and supplementing with raw (though my ferrets are all different types of picky with their raw, lol).
 

Aleron

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#18
Ferrets can already receive the Deslorelin implant as a means of prevention. The downside is that Deslorelin is expensive. Not as expensive as Lupron, but still a hefty price tag for a single preventative injection.
I will be interested to see what the GnRH injections will cost. I get the idea that it will be used more widely as both a preventive and a treatment but I could be wrong.

Ferrets can eat kibble and have less chance of developing insulinoma by sticking to grain free cat and ferret diets (mostly cat... IMO the only good grain free ferret diet is EVO).
I'm not sure that this is true, as grain free kibbles still have a decent amount of carbs in them (they pretty much have to in order to form kibble). I do wish you the best in your attempt to prevent insulinoma in your ferrets through feeding them grain-free though.
 

AllieMackie

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#19
I'm not sure that this is true, as grain free kibbles still have a decent amount of carbs in them (they pretty much have to in order to form kibble). I do wish you the best in your attempt to prevent insulinoma in your ferrets through feeding them grain-free though.
High-end grain free kibbles have carbs, sure, but often significantly less than other kibbles. It's not a sure-fire prevention, but anything I can do to help, I'll do! :) Not to mention grain free kibble is the best dry food option for ferts.
 

JessLough

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#20
Ferrets can already receive the Deslorelin implant as a means of prevention. The downside is that Deslorelin is expensive. Not as expensive as Lupron, but still a hefty price tag for a single preventative injection.

Ferrets can eat kibble and have less chance of developing insulinoma by sticking to grain free cat and ferret diets (mostly cat... IMO the only good grain free ferret diet is EVO). Jess' old boy Rascal's insulinoma symptoms are managed by her feeding him entirely grain free, and some raw IIRC. I hope to prevent insulinoma myself by feeding grainfree and avoiding grain and sugar inclusive treats, and supplementing with raw (though my ferrets are all different types of picky with their raw, lol).
Yep, he is no longer on any medication at all. He will be getting his 4-month (they suggest 6-month, but I do 4) blood tests this week when he goes to the vet, to be sure that his levels are still controling themselves, however.

Rascal is the only one of mine that can eat raw. Harley will not eat raw (nor will she eat soup or baby food consistancy, when I tried to switch her), and is super picky. Renegade is allergic to all the major protein sources (why no, I will not buy goat for my ferret to eat, not with the amount he eats on raw). Renegade also does not have the digestive tract for raw -- he will get e.coli and other gross diseases, which almost killed him. So yes, raw does kill ferrets, too :p Or maybe I just have the special cases :rofl1:

My guys are on preventative Melatonin (the pills, not the liquid, the liquid is wayyy too sugary), fed only grain-free food (especially since it will cause seizures in Rascal), and get blood glucose checks every 4 months once they hit 3 years old. However, my guys are all rescues who were gotten the youngest at 2 1/2, so all I can really do, is fight to minimize the risks (to a reasonable extent, no, I will not ignore my ferrets and leave them in the house every day, they would be MISERABLE, especially Harley) *now*, and hope it is not too little too late, since the level of care they received before coming here may have been less than perfect. Not that they receive perfect care here by any means, :rofl1:
 

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