My personal opinion is that in most cases, if a ferret is showing signs
indicative of adrenal disease, then money is much better spent on
treating the disease rather than spending upwards of $200 to confirm
something that we already know. I also once paid close to $200 for a
TN panel to be done, the cost of which includes the fees for the vet's
office, the blood drawing and processing, the lab where it's initially
sent, and then the cost charged by the Univ. of Tennessee to run the
test. I don't think I'll be doing that again other than perhaps in a
rare instance.

I feel that if more 'testing' is to be done, then the money would be
better spent on an ultrasound, which will measure the size of any
adrenal tumors, tell us whether they are on the left or right gland,
AND also potentially find any other tumors or abnormalities in the
abdominal area. The ultrasound will also be extremely advantageous if
surgery is chosen.

Ultrasounds here in CT are in the $250 -- $350 range, so they are
certainly not cheap, but they can offer more precise info than the TN
panel, if we already are pretty sure that we're dealing with adrenal
disease. The TN panel gives the levels of the hormones associated with
adrenal disease, but cannot tell us where the tumors are or how big
they are.

No one wants to give a ferret medicine that it doesn't need, but giving
a ferret a melatonin implant if it does not have adrenal disease will
cause no harm, and *might* help to prevent or delay eventual onset of
the disease. It will also help produce a beautiful coat. The other
types of adrenal medicine, which are generally stronger and more
effective, but which work in a different way than the melatonin, are
Lupron Depot shots or Deslorelin implants. Both of these drugs have
also been used by ferret owners and by researchers in ferrets that
do not have adrenal disease to see if they might be effective in
preventing it. While there are not yet any conclusions to that
question, what is true is that they will not cause harm to a ferret
without adrenal disease.

So, if you take that $200 or so that it costs to run the adrenal
disease thru a vet's office, and instead spend it on melatonin and/or
Lupron Depot/Deslorelin, then you can see if the symptoms improve. You
are also not wasting the extra week or more that it takes to wait for
the TN panel results, and that extra time could be crucial if you are
dealing with an enlarged prostate in a male or an enlarged vulva in a
female. I have found that using both melatonin implants and either
Lupron *OR* Deslorelin together provide the best results when treating
adrenal disease medically.

Jeff
In Loving Memory of Neo, Trinity, Morphy, Possum, Pip, Pop, Sabrina,
Minnie Mouse, Hunny, Misty, Frodo, Baggins, and Mr. Parker
Caring for Luna, Baby Girl, Dozer, Boomer, and Zoomer 

[Posted in FML 7132]