[Sukie Note to explain context: The individual had a ferret with adrenal
disease that caused fatal anemia.  Part of the treatment for that
includes melatonin in addition to meds and one heck of a lot of luck;
it is a terrible thing to tackle.  The person responded to a query about
ferrets who died shortly after getting melatonin.  The melatonin was not
the cause of death; anemia from that diseased adrenal gland was.]
 
start vet post:
 
What you are describing is anemia and thrombocytopenia (the lack of
platelets to form blood clots) that caused the petechial hemorrhage under
the skin that you could see.  The lack of platelets also caused the
bleeding from the injection.  This is a very severe case of adrenal gland
disease that is producing large amounts of estrogen.  The estrogen is
causing bone marrow toxicity and stopping the production of red blood
cells and platelets.  This is common in intact female ferrets that go
into heat and stay in heat.  Unfortunately it can and does sometimes
happen with adrenal gland disease.  These case require aggressive
treatment with Lupron, Melatonin, and Arimidex.  Some case even need
blood transfusions.
 
Sorry to hear about your loss, but the melatonin did not cause this
problem.  This was from the adrenal gland disease and estrogen.
 
Hope that helps,
Jerry Murray, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 5037]