Hi Mary, I concur with the most recent post. Lupron is for the treatment of adrenal tumors - it shuts them down and prevents the adrenal tumor(s) from oversecreting sex steroids (principally testosterone and progesterone). However, a vet will often prescribe prednisone for ferrets that HAVE just received adrenal surgery, and this is to help them recover from the surgery itself. The pred is not being given to help "cure" the adrenal condition, obviously, since the tumor was removed surgically and is no longer present. I will elaborate: Understand, the vet doesn't remove only the cancerous parts of the adrenal gland when she or he performs the surgery-- the vet removes the vast majority of adrenal gland, if not the whole thing (it's literally that small). The adrenal gland is normally supposed to secrete all sorts of hormones into the body -- some help drive body metabolism (they are called "glucocorticoids") and some are more involved with reproduction (they are called "sex steroids"). An adrenal tumor results in oversecretion of the sex steroids, which leads to the hair loss, and the inflammed genitals and everything else. So, the vet removes the adrenal(s). BUT when the vet removes the source of the problematic sex steroids, the vet is also removing the natural source of the glucocorticoids that drive metabolism. It's simply a consequence of removing the entire adrenal gland. [As an analogy, if you had a tumor on your pinky and your doctor was only capable of removing your hand, you would lose your other fingers and thumb too, even though there was nothing wrong with them and you need them to function]. The ferret needs the glucocorticoids for normal metabolism, and without enough of them the animal can "crash". So, the vet prescribes an artificial substitute for after the operation -- prednisone. The prednisone has medicinal value not in what it shuts down, but in what it substitutes for. As for insulinoma, a different disease, prednisone is the first medicine most veterinarians will prescribe. It helps stabilize blood sugar (again, prednisone affects metabolism). It's also dirt cheap as far as medicines go. I don't really like prednisone because it has a lot of side effects in the long run (like muscle wasting). There is another drug called Proglycem which is more effective against the disease, but costs more too. Most veterinarians won't prescribe Proglycem until prednisone stops working -- I don't get that. Why wait to pull out the big medicines until after the disease has progressed further? If we were talking about my best (human) friend, I wouldn't screw around until the disease got serious -- so why should I settle for less for my little ones? I have yet to get a satisfactory explanation from a vet for why Proglycem isn't the first drug used. Believe me, I've asked. It may be because they feel most ferret owners won't shell out for it (wrong); or it may be because they've been trained to follow a specific, somewhat effective but obsolete regimen and they are not inclined to think outside that box. As an aside, I had a ferret who developed insulinoma and I managed her for two years using Devil's Club Supreme (an herbal remedy). While her blood sugar never got back to 100, she led an active, symptom free life and her eventual passing had nothing to do with insulinoma. I don't know if this herbal remedy is good for all insulinomas, but it worked for my Nikita. Anyhow, if anything that I typed isn't clear, please email me and I will try to answer your questions. best, John [Posted in FML issue 4673]