>You have a good question about how to treat your Loki with adrenal >disease and a prostate problem. Unfortunately this a somewhat common >problem for male ferrets with adrenal disease. > >Because the prostate problem is a serious and potentially fatal >condition, you need to treat aggressively. First you need to lower the >hormones (DHT and Estrogen) that are causing the prostate to enlarge. >This can be done with Lupron or Deslorelin with melatonin. Next you >need to further lower the DHT level with either Avodart, Proscar/ >Propecia, or Casodex. Avodart and Proscar/Propecia both stop the >production of DHT. Avodart may be the slightly better option. Casodex >on the other hand just blocks the DHT receptors on the prostate. It >does not lower the hormone level. Actually the DHT levels will >increase with Casodex. Thus Avodart or Proscar/ Propecia are the >better options, but they need to be used with Lupron or Deslorelin and >melatonin. Most of the prostate cases will have a bacterial infection >too. Thus an antibiotic (Zeniquin, Baytril, or Trimeth/sulfa) may be >needed also. > >Metacam is a NSAID product that will help with pain but does little to >the prostate. I would start him on Lupron as soon as possible, but it >does not have to be a whooping dose. Just 200 mcg should be enough to >control the adrenal disease and help shrink the prostate. Likewise >Proscar/Propecia at 1 mg once a day for the first 30-60 days in a row. >Usually by then the prostate is small enough to reduce the dose to >just 0.1 mg once a day. Again with Lupron once a month. The dose for >Avodart (if price is no problem) is 0.05 mg once a day for 30-60 days. >May be able to reduce it to every other day after the prostate is >small enough to not cause any urination problems. > >Hope that helps, >Jerry Murray, DVM brought to you with author's approval by one of the 6 FHL moderators: Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/ http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html all ferret topics: http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html "All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow." (2010, Steve Crandall) [Posted in FML 6664]