I have 10 ferrets that were permanent WFRS fosters.  I say "were" because
I adopted them all when I left the shelter.  Most are/were recently
diagnosed with adrenal disease (and NOT by Cathy Johnson-Delaney but by
a volunteer or other Board member).
 
I'd like to begin with the first one ever fostered.  A little girl
about 2 at the time who was immediately started on Lupron and has been
receiving Lupron therapy ever since - about a year and a half.  She's
dead now.  After she was formally adopted, I chose surgery over Lupron.
She never woke up.  Why - at only 3 1/2 years old?
 
Because both adrenal glands were the size of grapes.
 
Because her lymph glands were 3-4 times their normal size.
 
Because she had tumors the size of peas on her pancreas.
 
Because she had a tumor on her kidney that was ready to burst.
 
And lastly, because she had severe IBD.
 
The doctor had rarely if ever seen such a mess in one ferret and made the
decision to let her sleep.  I agonize over this because there were no
symptoms, no signs, no change in her stools, no weight loss, no seizures,
no teeth grinding.  Nothing.  Each month for the past year and a half
that she was brought in faithfully to the shelter for her monthly Lupron
shot, Cathy never examined her.  Not once.  According to the medical data
I have read, Lupron does not shrink or suppress adrenal tumors, so under
the circumstances it would be no surprise that her tumors were so large.
Seems to me Lupron was a poor choice for this particular ferret at such
a young age.  Why wasn't there ever a follow up exam?  Why didn't Cathy
consider surgery when she was first surrendered at age 2?  If she had,
could her death have been avoided?  Would all of her other problems been
discovered and subsequently treated?  We'll never really know for sure.
WOULD SOMEONE ALSO PLEASE SHOW ME SOME PROOF THAT LUPRON IS SAFE TO USE
LONG TERM?  Everything I have ever read tells me that there are no long
term studies.  This poor ferret is the only long term study I am aware of.
 
And that's not all.  Within 2 weeks of adopting my fosters, the same
great vet I was so very fortunate to find (contradictory to what the WFRS
volunteers believe) through the Oregon Ferret Shelter performed surgery
on my other 4 who had suspected adrenal disease.  One of them became my
foster a year ago and has always had a bald tail.  At that time, she was
diagnosed with "blackheads" although I never really saw any.  Just
recently she began losing hair up her back which changed the diagnosis
of "blackheads" to adrenal.  She was treated once with Lupron in October
before I formally adopted her and then chose surgery as her treatment.  I
can't thank God enough that I did.  Her right adrenal gland was malignant
and far advanced.  It's my understanding that Lupron does nothing for
malignant tumors.  The doctor successfully removed her right adrenal
gland (again contradictory to the volunteer belief that it can't be done
due to its proximity to the vena cava).  I can only hope that I got her
into surgery in time before it spread and that the doctor was able to
get it all.  Right now I can tell you that she has hair on her tail for
the first time since I've had her and she's back to her normal, ornery,
bite every toe she can find, self.  And what a beautiful tail it is!  I
realize that most adrenal tumors are not malignant but it doesn't make
it right to treat them ALL with Lupron thus allowing the ferrets with
adrenal carcinoma to die.
 
The one and only male I adopted is about 5-6 years old and was in pretty
bad shape.  Dry, sparse body hair, low energy, unsteady gait, hind leg
weakness, weight loss, enlarged prostate, difficulty urinating.  He had
two Lupron shots in October within 2 weeks of each other to reduce the
prostate before the shelter ran out of money and - no more Lupron.  It's
very scary to have an animal with a potentially life threatening problem
where treatment is discontinued because there is no more medication.
When I took him in with the others for surgery, his left adrenal gland
was removed as well as a nodule on his pancreas.  He has since grown into
a beautiful boy with jet black fur on his legs and a light smooth coat.
And abundant energy!
 
there's stil more...see part 3
[Posted in FML issue 4379]