Nancy, if you can't cover adoption costs then you can't cover medical
care.  Have you asked the local shelters about fostering programs
instead?  Then the shelter usually makes sure the individual has medical
care and you cover day to day expenses.
 
Lupron: the dose size (and hence the cost) is not always just dependent
on just the time frame.  Much smaller doses are used in at least one
study of preventing adrenal neoplasia from what our vet was told at a
conference, and sometimes some ferrets who don't respond to smaller doses
have to have larger ones to have an effect according to some things I've
read.  There's info on this in the FHL archives.  I heard a while back
that the maker is releasing or planning to release a veterinary version
(which perhaps might therefore be in field tests if what was said is
valid) at lower cost than the human one so that may be out now and may
be part of the reduced cost, too.  (I did not verify it, so take that as
something read which needs checking.)
 
Compounding pharmacies which do ferret meds (and many ship as does the
one we use in NJ):
http://www.smartgroups.com/vault/ferrethealth/ReferenceShelf/
comp_pharm.html
 
In celebration of the season, whatever your religion or non-religion,
give your ferrets some crinkly tissue paper!  Enjoy!
[Posted in FML issue 4372]