Okay, first off, the symptoms Ardith and her friend are seeing might actually be infection -- and with one who was not implanted in one of those two households that becomes more likely -- and I have not seen any posts from anyone who minded her asking, but did mind a number of the replies Why? What Ardith asked about was possibly unusual IF the cause was not adrenal disease itself (which can cause marrow failure) and Ardith was implanting for prevention rather than for treatment, and if alternative and well known causes such as a range of infections, accidental poisoning, severe allergies, and a few other things were removed from the equation by also testing for those at the same time which seems to not have happened, so it was reasonable to ask but it was also reasonable to carefully test at the same time but sadly sometimes vets do not do that unless a client requests it though in all honesty the vet SHOULD point out which tests would greatly help. The problems for introducing confusion and panic happened with replies, and the big reasons that those have been questionable is because the vast majority of the complaints have been 1. About symptoms other than the ones Ardith noted and even worse the vast majority have been 2. Blaming the implants for things that are NORMAL COMPLICATIONS OF ADRENAL DISEASE. Why is that upsetting? It is upsetting because it means that the people did not learn about adrenal disease, adrenal disease complications, and what to do when such complications arise. It is always essential to learn about an illness when someone has it and there are so many online resources, a number of which are always in my sig lines. Their not learning beforehand could place their own ferrets at increased risk. It also means that they have perhaps confused treatment with cure. Some adrenal growths that are not removed simply will eventually become carcinoma and harder to control. Sorry, but that is just a fact. Some will not and for those ferrets using the implants often enough will provide control. When people jump on and blame almost anything on a treatment several things happen. A. The person seeking an answer never gets one that is applicable. As a result nothing is learned. In this case add to non-applicable replies that the vet was not testing for well known alternative causes, and not doing histopathology as well as a necropsy. That is a combo for disaster. It means that the cause remains unknown and treatment that may be needed is delayed or never done. Remember that the symptoms best match some infections, especially some very nasty species of the smaller size genus of coccidia, and that coccidia often requires multiple tests to be found. When coccidia is present -- which it may or may not be in this case -- it is essential to treat all individuals of all species that get that coccidia species and to deeply clean since the oocytes can remain in cracks in the household. The nastier forms also need longer treatment. Coccidia is not the only known cause of such symptoms that needs to be checked into. If other animals in the household or the ferrets go outside that increases the chances of coccidia though people can bring it in, too. B. People become fearful of good approaches, especially if they have not learned enough to realize that the others are blaming the approach for something else, even something that is known to be caused by the disease that is being treated. C. In this case it could delay having a useful implant medication become available through the U.S. branch of Virbac, making the implants remain harder to get. That can delay treatment for ferrets who are not surgical candidates, sometimes for too long, and it could keep the costs higher than they could be with U.S. distribution which means that the ferrets of people who are having money troubles might remain without any needed treatment or with insufficient treatment. D. The minority who seem to post just for attention begin to appear and stir things up once things spiral too badly. Sad to say, but there are a few who sometimes appear out of the blue saying things that make no sense, making attention garnering promises they do not keep (like promising huge donations they could never cover), or stirring the pot by saying things that make no sense or are without explanation once people are already in a panic. There HAVE been several things that became obvious in the discussion: almost no one has encountered the symptoms Ardith and her friend encountered with similar timing (though many have seen them with other causes once a person looks in the archives, and now one of them also has a ferret who never had an implant having the same symptoms), and most of the people who are worried about the implant due to past experience seem to be blaming the implant for problems that are well known -- and sometimes very commonly -- to be caused by out of control adrenal disease. So far I am coming from this discussion with an even better impression of the implants than I had before specificially because I am learning that people with reservations are actually talking about problems caused by the disease rather than by the treatment, though I am keeping an open mind till there have been tests done that narrow down the cause. That is essential. People MUST remember that histopathology is absolutely essential. Necropsy without that might spot the cause of death in maybe ten percent of the cases but that further testing is essential. See two past posts or Google or see my sig lines when I using my other computer for contact info for the Michigan State Ferret Health Advancement group, or use Google or the past posts to contact NW Zoopath. It is also essential to test for possible alternative causes like salmonella spread from a dog eatting any of the Diamond dog foods being recalled and the ferrets getting it, or from birds or reptiles, or coccidia which still perhaps is not being tested for often enough or at BOTH magnifications needed for Isospora and Eimera, or... Coincidences happen and this discussion might involve nothing more than that. Ardith is keeping an open mind and requesting more testing when possible. That will protect the other animals in her household. I wanted to copy this post to her but her addies is not on my iPad. I am sure that Becca or Alex will forward it. [Posted in FML 7417]