Suprelorin implant - not just for chemical castration

I've been to the vet this afternoon, to get a suprelorin implant administered. Not for Shadow, but for Fidget, one of my ferrets. Who is a girl. And spayed, at that. She has early stage adrenal disease, or, to use its full name, adrenal gland cortical disease; basically a tumour on the adrenal gland. There is no cure, although surgery is an option, it's a very risky procedure, and she's not a spring chicken anymore (nearly 7 years of age), so the implant is the best option. It drastically slows the growth of the tumour and reverses the clinical signs; hair loss being the one that alerted us to the disease in her.

It was a really unpleasant visit for her, because the needle was massive. The implant is the size of a grain of rice, which may not sound big, but it makes for a massive needle on a tiny ferret. She's about 700g in weight, not like some of the big bruiser boys you see. Back in a month to see if it was effective, and if so, she'll have to have the implant renewed every six months.

Poor little fuzzbutt

 

Poor girl I hope it helps her

 

Aw, poor girl. I hope it helps.

Do you take the ferrets to Spain with you?

 

Aww poor wee thing. I hope it works for her x

 

Very interesting. Hope this is successful.

 

Ah bless her! Hope it helps xxx

 

Poor girl

 

Hope it works, very interesting. Poor little ferret though.

 

We haven't been, because it's not been secure enough for them, so a friend has been popping in to look after them. The plan is to take them with us tomorrow, though, and we're staying there for a week or so. They have their own room, which is in a nice cool, dark place in the house

 

Bless her little face xx

 

Hope it helps her.

 

Aww, best wishes. I've lost three ferrets to that dread disease in the last five years, and two to insulinoma. I wish people, especially here in Denmark, had been more careful with breeding, so these things were more rare.

 

I've not looked into the genetic prevalence of it, but I know it can be exacerbated by early spaying, bad diet and too much exposure to light, so I have been careful with all of these aspects.

Happily, Fidget is responding well to the implant, and has started regrowing her hair. I know it's not a cure and only slows the progression, but it's good news that the clinical symptoms are disappearing, at least. She's back to the vet soon for a follow-up scan, so we'll be able to see if the tumour is responding at all.

Thanks for your wishes. They're such funny little creatures.