Tommie is a 5 1/2 yrs old neutered Male MF ferret who was diagnosed Sat with a tumor in his tummy via Xray and I think the vet said his lymph nodes in his lungs were gray but should have been black. They suggested Ultrasound. I am financially distressed. BUT I will do whatever I can to save him!!! He stopped eating kibble in Feb and I have been feeding him A/D canned food alternating mixing Gerber Baby Chicken or Turkey food, Felivite, Nutrical, Ferretone, Pedialyte, Pediasure, Nupro, etc). Up to now, he had been treated for IBD. He has on/off diarrhea occasionally with black tarry stools, vomiting a few times a months to a few times a week and now it is a few times a day. Last week is when he started the daily vomiting and refusal to eat. I had to force feed a few times. He got Sub-Q fluids Sat and was a different ferret later that day. He was more bight and willing to eat. He has episodes of weakness where he loses his footing which has been ongoing for a couple of years. His BG has ALWAYS been normal. In recent months he has been losing hair...but his adrenal panel was normal. He vomitted the past 2 days once daily. BUT ate willingly. He weighed 2 lb 12 oz for most of his life. He got down to 2 lbs 4 oz and within recent months up to 3 lbs 4 oz. After this weekend he's down to 2 lbs 13 oz. He received a Melatonin implant in August and Lupron injection in beginning of October. Here are Tommie's Current Meds Prednisolone - 0.5 ml daily Metronidazole - 0.5 ml 2 x daily Metoclopramide - 0.5 ml 3 x daily as needed Carafate - 1 ml 2 x daily as needed Pepcid mixed in water - .25 ml 3 X daily As of 10/17/08 Biomox (Amoxi Drops) 0.5 ml 2 x daily for next 14 days Emetrol - 0.4 ml 3 x daily (I don't know what amount I should give. A ferret shelter owner said that Emetrol can be used. My vet doesn't know what dosage to give or even if Emetrol could be used for ferrets. This is my best estimated guess since the Metoclopramide hasn't been working.) He basically sleeps. He will walk the room once when I let them out, occasionally hides his "baby dolls", then retreats to the cage. But when he hears me at the cupboard, he is all bright eyed hoping to get a NBone treat. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for any assistance! Just to let you know so you don't think I m blowing you off, I may not be able to reply to messages due to my pain in my wrist, BUT I promise I will read EACH message received AND reply as soon as I possibly am able. Regards From ~ Melanie "A cat or dog steals your heart, but a ferret steals your soul." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:42:26 -0400 From: Jeff <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Melatonin *MIME-Version: 1.0 *Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" *Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From what I have read, and based on information given to me directly from one of the prominant ferret vets on the Ferret Health List, it is okay to supplement oral melatonin for ferrets, and the recommended dosage is up to 1.0 mg per ferret per day. We have been supplementing it for the last year. I use Nature's Bounty 1.0 mg tablets, because they dissolve quickly in water. I then use that water as the base for their daily soup, so they get the melatonin right in their soup and are none the wiser. I use four 1.0 mg tablets for five ferrets, so that each gets approximately 0.8 mg each per day. Only in the long run will we know whether or not this has helped to prevent adrenal disease, but since it has been approved by a prominant ferret vet, I feel okay using it daily. It seems like a very inexpensive way to (hopefully) prevent long-term problems for our little ones. Jeff In Memory of Neo Caring for Trinny, Morphy, Baby Girl, Luna, and Dozer [Posted in FML 6130]