Hello All:
 
A week ago I posted that we were beginning experimental adrenal treatments
using a relatively new (in ferrets anyway) drug named Anipryl.  I thought
I'd update everybody on what we've seen so far.
 
Quick background
----------------
Newone is an 8 year old neutered female who has had inoperable adrenal
tumors since she was 6.  Most of her hair is gone, but the use of colloidal
silver seems to have stabilized her disease.
 
Puck is a 6 year old albino neutered male, with intact scent glands.  He was
diagnosed with adrenal in 1995 and had the right adrenal removed (the easy
one).  This past Christmas he suffered a nasty bite to the neck which got
severely infected and which seemed to retrigger his adrenal.  Hair regrowth
in the wounded area was very slow, and his hair began thinning out along
portions of his spine and tail.
 
In response to these problems, our vet suggested treatment with Anipryl,
which she has been using successfully in dogs.  Dosage is .5mg per day per
weasel.
 
Results So Far
--------------
 
Our vet believed we would not see any results until about 1 month of
treatment.
 
Well, we're not sure *what's* happening, but SOMETHING sure is.  Puck has
experienced EXPLOSIVE hair regrowth, mostly in the wounded area on this neck
but some along the thinning areas on his spine and tail.  One week ago his
neck was bare...today the hair is roughly 1/2 inch long!  It has a yellowish
cast to it (which may be due to his needing a bath), but the hair itself is
strong and appears healthy.  Additionally, his skin no longer has the
"scaly" texture Cushingnoid ferrets often get, having gone back to a softer,
healthier looking pink.
 
Newone in turn has gotten downright bouncy.  A weasel who is in human terms
roughly 95 yeras old, who has no hair, and who normally spends roughly 23
hours a day sleeping POUNCED on my foot last night while I was refilling
food and water.  Colleen let her upstairs while sewing yesterday and she ran
around nonstop for over 2 hours.  Her energy level is definitely higher and
we believe her body temperature is being regulated better...she isn't
sleeping on her hot pad as much as she was.
 
In short, we've very encouraged so far.  Our vet has been made aware of
what's going on and is similarly impressed.  The result we're seeing are
similar to what she has seen in the dogs she's treated, though considerably
more accelerated.  This may be due to the relatively high dosage of the drug
given the size of the ferrets vs.  a typical dog.
 
So far, so good....
 
Steve, from the High Mountains of Colorado
"Don't Trust Anyone Under 14,000 Feet"
[Posted in FML issue 2231]