I asked Dr. Weiss about Lupron causing the death of a ferret and also about it's effect on bone density. Here's what he had to say, and gave his permission to quote him. I believe one of these questions came from the FML, the other from the FAIML. "I have not to date (over 200 ferrets) seen any acute deaths with lupron. But I do still say, as always that surgery is the best alternative (esp with the advent of cryo!!!), and it should only be used on non surgical candidates. We do not know all of the long term effects of lupron in the ferret, but I'm using it for ferrets which have an illness that I do not have a better treatment for. I have seen it help countless ferrets, many who would certainly be dead by now if it were not for the drug. As with any drug adverse reactions can occur and are unpredictable. There are always some risks we take when treating patients, but we try to do the best we can with the current available treatments. Decreased bone density has been reported in people with lupron, I have not seen this clinically relevant in the ferret. Also the ferret is so light weight and does not have a problem with osteoporosis, so I think problems from this would be remote. It would be nice to have all of the info (post lupron bone scans, etc.) but unfortunately the money is just not there. Much of this info is not available for dogs and cats either." For the ferrets, Mike * Michael F. Janke, [log in to unmask] * Secretary, South Florida Ferret Club & Rescue * A 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation * * Shelter web site: http://www.miamiferret.org * Adrenal/Insulinoma web site: http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc [Posted in FML issue 2892]