Hello everyone.  I am sorry it has taken me awhile to get back to the
groups about Eves death.
 
For those that don't remember, I will try to remind you without going
into huge detail...
 
Eve had come to us when a shelter closed in January 2005.  She had a big
belly and loss of fur along with a large vulva.  She was adrenal.  She
was about 6 years old.  After coming here we put her on duck soup with
melatonin pills.  She started to grow fur back and lost the big belly
she had had.  We decided that due to her having been adrenal for at
least 2 years, we were not going to risk surgery with her.  We opted
for the implant.  Our vet ordered the ferret implant and put it in Eve
on October 5, 2005.
 
Eve was running and playing that morning before the implant was placed.
After the implant she was lethargic.  We heard that it was normal so we
didn't worry too much.  So we kept an eye on her and hand fed her soup.
 
October 10th we decided to take her back to the Vet because she was
getting worse and losing weight.  The vet called the company that makes
the implant (She spoke with Tim).  he said that it is normal for the
ferret to be like that.  So the vet assured us from what the company
told her.  And for us to continue to keep an eye on her.
 
October 12th - one week to the day she had the implant she died in Shawns
arms.
 
We had the necropsy done.  It appeared that her heart suddenly becan to
pump into her lung.  But it didn't appear that she had really had any
other health problems other than the adrenal so the vet was at a loss.
 
I contacted Tim at Melatek to let him know what was going on.  He in
turn called our vet and they decided to send Eves body to the University
lab to get to the bottom of what happened to her.
 
Well... this is where I had left off.... The results came back a little
while ago and I have been trying to wrap my mind around it.
 
After extensive testing, the lab could not find anything to cause her
death.  Her heart was fine.  They couldn't find out why it pumped into
her lung after the implant.
 
Now, I know that melatonin is a natural "drug" so that most likely that
didn't hurt her.  But what about the casing that it was in?  Could it
along with the sudden release of melatonin have killed her?
 
In my heart I know that it was the implant that lead to her passing away.
Because of this I won't be using it again.  I have my baby girl here that
it could help... but I won't risk it... I just can't.  I know that the
implants are helping hundreds of other ferrets and shelters... and I'm
very happy for them.  I hope it continues.  But I also know that several
other people have emailed me telling me that they have had ferrets pass
away after the implant but they chalked it up to the ferrets health, not
the implant.
 
What I want to see happen is that when you do have a ferret that goes
through an implant, is to track their health afterwards.  If they get
worse, take the implant out ASAP.  If they pass away, do the necropsy...
and report it to Melatek.  They need to know that this is going on....
Don't leat another baby pass without being reported so that they can
help others.
 
Please, I'm not saying that the implants are something that should be
avoided, but I think that everyone needs to know that there can be a
downside.  You need to be informed.
 
I will be posting this and any other information I can find about the
down-side of melatonin implants.
 
Joanne Ruffner
Ferret Corner Shelter
=93Forever Remembering Eve=94
[Posted in FML issue 5075]