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Zirtavia In reply to rinidarklight [2008-01-29 02:07:13 +0000 UTC]

Does indeed--her entire hip and lower back region is pretty bald now, too. Nice diagnosis! We have an silly vet who wouldn't give us a straight answer on it, but she has the genital swelling and all that jazz also--it's really clear to us.

Do you have any info on it that might be helpful? Our last vet visit was excruciatingly un-helpful. Does it eventually cause them pain, stuff like that? She my darling little thing, and I don't know much about the disease.

Thank you!

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rinidarklight In reply to Zirtavia [2008-01-29 14:51:03 +0000 UTC]

If youre vet is too stupid to not be able and recognize adrenal they need a good smack.. Yes, it will eventually start to cause pain.. In males, it will stop them from being able to go to the bathroom and in females it eventually starts to shut down their bodies.. I actually lost my 10yr old gal on christmas in 2006 from that same problem..

I kept her comfy with this- go to walmart or a drug store and buy a bottle of 3MG Melatonin pills. if you dont have one, get a pill chopper too. Break the pills into 4ths.. you HAVE to give her the meds somewhere between 4-6 hours AFTER sunrise or it will not work. smash 1/4 pill into the finest powder you can manage and mix it with some ferretone and get her to lick it all up. hopefully, if she doesnt fight and takes it everyday, you should start seeing fur regrowth on her hind end and the swollen vulva will start to go down..

Its not a cure, but makes the disease much much easier to live with and sort of "slows down" the effects of the disease.. the only true cure is surgery to have the adrenal glands removed, but if shes older than like 5 you dont want to chance it... Theres also Melatonin Implants called Ferre-tonin that you can have done, but they get exspensive as you have to get them done every so many week... there also somthing called a Lupron Injection they can get, but again, it will get exspensive.. If you just want to want make her comfy try the melatonin pills... the bottle will run you like $5 and last you a long long time...

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Zirtavia In reply to rinidarklight [2008-01-29 20:12:35 +0000 UTC]

That's probably the only useful advice I've gotten about this disease in a long time.

I have some probing questions about that treatment method, if you don't mind (it's really good advice and I'm excited, but I have a few more questions before I go for it):
1) Do you know of any adverse effects the melatonin can have on them, and in what case (overdose, etc)? I don't want to inadvertently poison my baby, and she's a very small ferret, under a pound in weight.
2) Just out of curiosity, where did you find that treatment/who told you about it?
3) Just to check: I assume you've used it on your own ferrets?

That's awesome. I'll definitely look into it. Thank you so, so much for your help. There was a period when her behavior really changed, she got kind of obsessive and manic and weird. That was tough. She seems to have chilled out now--she's gotten really cuddly in her old age --but there have been times when the disease has been difficult to watch. I'm really grateful for something that might help her out.

& to you! And thanks once again!

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rinidarklight In reply to Zirtavia [2008-01-30 05:00:39 +0000 UTC]

questions are no prob! Im happy to see someone actually look into things before they take on a treatment for their fuzzy

1- As far as Ive seen and read there arent any side effects. I would assume that if you give them too much it'll make them sleep alot harder.. The point of Melatonin is to help with their sleeping cycle. Some people think that Adrenal is caused by the unnatural lighting they live in when theyre in a house. It makes their adrenal glands to over work causing the illness..
2- I learned this from Ferrets Magazine, The Lazy Hammock Ferret Forum (.com), shelter owners that im friends with and from the net in general. Also, my ferret vet offers it as an idea for people who cant afford surgery or age of ferret wont allow it.
3- Yes, I did use it for about 4yrs of my ferrets life before she passed away in 06.. It made her life alot easier even though she was still sick..

One of the signs of adrenal is acting very bitey and mean.. Specially in males, they'll have these short bursts of agressivness. Podo at one point had to be handled with such caution as she'd be fine one minuet and then latch onto your hand the next.. after about a month of melatonin she calmed down, grew her fur back and was playing as hard as her 1yr old cage mate (and she was 7yrs old!)

Good luck with this! I hope your fuzzy gets better for you.. If you ever need anymore help head on over to TheLazyHammockFerretForum.com.. Im a member there and there are alot of very helpful people (shelter moms/dads, ferret parents, ect) on the forum that will give you all the advice you need.

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Zirtavia In reply to rinidarklight [2008-03-20 18:04:41 +0000 UTC]

I wanted to update you on something very exciting that happened to us this morning:

So, we decided, after some research and changing of the time to administer the dose (everything we found said to give it later in the day, so we decided to do that), we began giving Chi 100 mg of melatonin daily, mixed with peanut butter. It's been about a month, and we were not seeing any change.

Today, all of a sudden, I picked her up and realized that she has a new growth of really healthy lookin' fuzz on her butt (and even a bit on her tail!!!!), and her vulvar swelling has gone down remarkably since yesterday! My fuzzbutt is a fuzzbutt again!!!

My family feels that this is due in part to the ending of Daylight Savings Time and the oncoming spring, but in a great part to the melatonin. We are absolutely overjoyed. I can't even tell you. And we never would have tried it had you not said anything. My family thanks you from the bottom of our hearts

I'm sure she'll have something of a relapse when winter hits again, but I feel incredibly encouraged at her new fur growth. She seems to have recently become blind, as well, and I wonder if that's at all related to the adrenal disease. We'll see if it improves. My ferret and I are forever in your debt. Thank you so, so much.

I'm doing to go cuddle with her furry self now! Thank you!!!

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rinidarklight In reply to Zirtavia [2008-03-20 19:34:15 +0000 UTC]

lol.. its no problem, im glad its starting to work for her and shes getting a fuzzy bum again. If you keep up the melatonin and her body gets used to having it it may settle back enough that she'll keep her fur and such for much longer than just spring and summer. My Podo was on it for a couple of years and once she grew her fur back in she never lost it again. So hopefully that is the case with your little one. Best of luck with her!

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Zirtavia In reply to rinidarklight [2008-03-20 20:41:26 +0000 UTC]

That's awesome! Thank you so much!

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Zirtavia In reply to rinidarklight [2008-02-06 21:57:29 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much for all of your help. We're gonna seriously look into this. It's so kind of you, thank you

She was never the latch-on kind of girl; she used to play and bite down in that bone-crushing way that they do, but never broke the skin. She never bit in anything but play. She's really delightful. Her weirdness manifested in--this sounds odd, but it's true--obsessional behavior. We often brought her outside during the summer with a bell collar, and followed her around. She loves it more than anything else. But she got so obsessed with going outside that she never left the door. It was dangerous. She actually learned how to open the door by herself and got out once. Thankfully, she was returned.

She's chilled out now, though we're more hesitant to take her outside now because it seems to reawaken the mania. Poor thing, since she loves it so much. These days, she's cuddly beyond belief, which is nice.

I'll definitely look into this treatment more. Me miss her old exuberant playfulness (that never comes out anymore, though in all other ways she seems very vibrant and behaviorally healthy). Thanks for being so willing to help. I'll return the favor someday, in any way I can

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