Regarding Shron's post re: hair loss after the Des implant. Back in
2008 I took three of my ferrets to Pittsburgh to be part of Doc
Wagner's study. It was in the fall of the year and Luke had been in a
shelter with untreated ACD. I offered to take him to Pittsburgh for
an implant and pay for it (he then was adopted by us - big surprise
right?) Anyway, while we knew he was adrenal, he had thinning of the
fur in the standard locations, Doc held Luke and just before implant he
grasp some fur between his thumb and forefinger and pulled out a gob of
fur, remarking, "See this, this is adrenal disease." I thought, don't
do that it is getting cold Luke needs all the fur he has! My point is,
even if ferrets have not lost enough hair to have thinning or balding
spots, it doesn't take much once ACD has begun for the fur to be rubbed
out on objects or from handling.

I'm curious if you ever had an ultrasound performed on Minky to get an
idea of how involved the tumor activity was? US can show the size of
the tumor, how much of the vena cava is impaired if it is a right
adrenal tumor and if the tumor is attaching to other organs. Also, were
you ever able to have a necropsy done following Minky's death? Ferrets
can have many underlying illnesses that are so well hidden, without a
necropsy or pathology report done to determine cause of death one has
to be careful to not assume for example; that Minky died of ACD or the
use of the implant or Lupron.

It is possible that Minky's ACD was more advanced than you realized and
he could have had a number of internal issues form large tumors. If he
lost hair shortly after the implant I would almost suspect this case as
the study has consistently shown hair re-growth between 8 and 12 weeks.

Without either of the two procedues mentioned above, I'm not sure you
will ever have a solid answer.

The nice thing about an ultrasound (if you can get them done from a vet
charging affordable fees) is that the tech can locate and measure the
tumors and snap a pic with measurements on it to use as a baseline. My
Jille who is 8 just got her second implant (I screwed up and was 4
months late getting it for her). In 14 months her tumor grew less than
double its starting size, there was no impairment to the vena cava and
it has not attached to any other organs; all positive feedback.

Hope this information is helpful. God Bless Minky and his cagemate who
passed.

CAthy
Feed rescued animals in two clicks
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3

[Posted in FML 7564]