Hi, all.
 
Rebecca Klein posted yesterday about using holistic medicine for adrenal
"cancer".  Please be aware that not all adrenal disease is cancer.  I my
experience, most of the adrenal growths that have been removed from our
ferrets have not been cancerous.  However, if anyone, including Rebecca,
would care to share with me (and the FML) about how holicstic medicines
cure adrenal tumors/growths, I'd be very interested in listening.
 
Valerie mentioned that she wants to use melatonin for adrenal disease.
How exactly is melatonin supposed to stop an adrenal tumor from growing
and bring everything back into balance (the corticosteroids, etc.)?  If
this has been medically proven to work, then I might consider giving it a
try.  Until then, I will continue to have the surgery done.  Dr. Williams
at one point stated that adrenal disease is more than just losing hair.
If left unchecked, the tumor can grow very large and cause a very quick
decline in health.  The fact that corticosteroids, estrodiol (sp?) are
out of balance further justifies surgery in my opinion.  I would much
rather take care of the problem and get the ferret back into good health
rather than go with a non-surgical procedure just because it makes *me*
feel better.  Then again, I am a shelter and may see things from a
different perspective.  The one 7 year old female that we have who is on
Lupron is doing very well.  She is too old to be adopted, but we are happy
that we did not immediately do surgery on her.  However, Lupron does not
stop the tumor from growing and possibly doing harm later.  Since being
on Lupron, she had gained 1 pound and has almost all of her fur again.
We are now considering surgery since she has gained weight and she is
much stronger now then when she was surrendered.
 
We asked one of our vets about melatonin specifically for adrenal disease
and his response was "Well, it won't hurt the ferret.", meaning that it
will not kill the ferret, but it surely does not stop the growth/tumor
from growing.  In his opinion, a bald ferret is not just a bald ferret.
Adrenal disease does NOT just cause hair loss...there is a lot more going
on.  His practice sees 1,500 ferrets per year.
 
If there are any vets lurking on here that might be able to shed some
light on this, I for one would be happy to listen.  Also, does the
holistic medicine(s) have to be administered for the rest of the ferret's
natural life?  If so, what is the cost of that compared to the $130 - $140
my vet charges for the surgery?
 
Just because I run a shelter doesn't mean I know everything.  I also help
teach SCUBA classes, and one of our mottos is "A good SCUBA diver is
always learning.".  The same can be said for an almost 40 year old
shelter operator!  LOL
 
-Mark Zmyewski, President
 Cloud Nine Ferrets, Inc.
 A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
 Huntsville, Alabama
[Posted in FML issue 3768]