Sebastian to the Vet

I will be taking Sebastian to the vet tonight at 8 pm. It is time for another lupron shot. Not that they are working for him, he's getting less and less hair all the time. Ferrets aren't supposed to be naked. He might be able to get a new drug that they have brought in from the US. We will find out tonight, and hopefully they can give it to him tonight. It is supposed to work with the lupron. Hopefully the combination would allow his hair to grow back, before I have to figure out how to knit a ferret sized sweater for him for when the snow flies. Could ask for crossed fingers, in just over an hour, to help boost his chances to get this new drug.

All fingers and paws crossed here for Sebastian.I hope they have something that can help him.

We got the usual 2 lupron shots in the butt. Sebastian doesn't even seem to notice that he's getting poked. Too busy licking up the ferretone. Then he got the new meds - melatonin - in a format similar to a grain of rice thru a large needle between the shoulder blades. He didn't notice that he was getting poked with this either. This should last 4-6 months and slow release into his system. It will apparently work with the lupron and in maybe 4 weeks we should notice hair growth. Even the vet has her fingers crossed that this will help Sebastian.

Fingers and Paws crossed here too!!!

Sebastian needs his soft furry coat where he lives!!!!

He sure is a trooper!!! Please keep us up-dated Queen of Poop!!!!!

Fingers & paws crossed here. I know how tricky those little guys can be.

Spurr's hair is "just" starting to thin on his shoulder blades. It may be the fact that he was in a small "hospital" cage for a couple weeks and rubbed his back on the cage or it may be the dreaded "A" word. I'll give him a few weeks in his bigger cage & see what happens. If there's no improvement off to the vets we go. (so far that is the ONLY symptom)

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Originally Posted by lv4dogs

Fingers & paws crossed here. I know how tricky those little guys can be.

Spurr's hair is "just" starting to thin on his shoulder blades. It may be the fact that he was in a small "hospital" cage for a couple weeks and rubbed his back on the cage or it may be the dreaded "A" word. I'll give him a few weeks in his bigger cage & see what happens. If there's no improvement off to the vets we go. (so far that is the ONLY symptom)

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I hope that Spurr's hair does grow back and it's not the dreaded Adrenal disease. To do a quick check hold him and rub his full back hair the wrong way. Is he bald underneath the longer overcoat? I truly hope not. Another check is his tail, is it still all fuzzy. Sebastians is totally naked!!

How is Sebastian doing? Does the melatonin seem to help at all?

I am almost sure Spurr is adrenal, he's got the thinning hair & that adrenal smell. He's going to the vet within the next couple weeks. If that melatonin was working good for you I was going to mention it to my vet see what she thinks about it & if she can get it.

Yous have been in my thoughts! {{{hugs}}}

My vet said it is best to start the Melatonin early so this would probably be the ideal time for Spurr to start it if he is adrenal. So far I've not noticed any difference in Sebastian, but it's only been a week. He seems more "lively" when he's up, could be my imagination, but there is no hair growth yet. I'm trying to be patient as she said it would take 4-6 weeks to see any difference. Seriously considering the sweater option for him as it was only 7oC here this morning and the furnace came on.

This Saturday, Sep 23 will be one month since Sebastian got the lupron/melatonin combination. We're going to the vet on Sep 26 for a check up and his next lupron shot. Unfortunately I cannot report any new hair growth. She did say 4-6 weeks and I guess I was hoping for a "miracle". So far he continues to lose his hair. I'm going to have to get started on his sweater soon as it's quite chilly here and I've noted he shivers when I take him out of his cage.

i hope all is well with dear Sebastian!
I checked to see where you're from. Thought it might be Australia. I have a friend in Queensland, and it's chilly now.. Ah, Canada! How I envy the climate!
Prayers for your boy! zoey

We saw the vet last night. Sebastian is getting balder by the day. She seems to think that he might be going thru seasonal hair loss and that maybe we will see hair growth in a month. I think this is wishful thinking on her part. I convinced her to try anti-histamines with Sebastian. I read that adrenal disease can cause an excessive amount of histamines to be in his system and this might be the cause of all of the mast cell tumors on his back. We're trying it for a week to see if it makes any difference. I'll also be increasing the amount of ferretone he gets to see if it makes his so dry skin any better. Overall my boy is not doing very well. But he took his 2 lupron shots like a trooper and he fought the vet when she tried to hold him and listen to his heart. He's still got spunk!! He gets real tired real quick these days though, I can see the diesease is taking a toll on him. :(

Please excuse my forgetfulness but is he not a good candidate for surgery?

I hope they find something that works for him. We all know he so deserves so much more.

A tip about mast cell tumors on ferrets:
You can apply a small amount of tee tree oil to the tumor once daily for up to a week. Tee tre oil is usually very potent, therefore it usually comes in tiny viles. I put my finger over the top, turn the bottle over so my finger tip is moistened with it & apply it to the spot that way. Like I said you really don't need much at all.
MANY of my ferret friends & I too have used this little "trick" for years & years now & we'll be damned, it really does work.
Spurr has 2 MCT's that seem to return every few months to a year. Usually after only 1-2 days of the tee tree oil they dissapear.

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Originally Posted by lv4dogs

Please excuse my forgetfulness but is he not a good candidate for surgery?

I hope they find something that works for him. We all know he so deserves so much more.

A tip about mast cell tumors on ferrets:
You can apply a small amount of tee tree oil to the tumor once daily for up to a week. Tee tre oil is usually very potent, therefore it usually comes in tiny viles. I put my finger over the top, turn the bottle over so my finger tip is moistened with it & apply it to the spot that way. Like I said you really don't need much at all.
MANY of my ferret friends & I too have used this little "trick" for years & years now & we'll be damned, it really does work.
Spurr has 2 MCT's that seem to return every few months to a year. Usually after only 1-2 days of the tee tree oil they dissapear.

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He had the adrenal surgery in November of 2004 and had both glands removed, tissue has grown back. Second surgery isn't done.

I will try the tea tree oil on his mast cell tumors. I have it at home for human use so will give it a whirl on the 4 he's got on his back. Thanks for this info!!

For some reason I thought he only one removed. That's too bad, poor little guy.

Let me know how the tree tea oil works for him please. So far there is a yet a ferret that is has not worked on.

Is the tee trea oil working for you?

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Originally Posted by lv4dogs

Is the tee trea oil working for you?

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I haven't tried it yet as he has to be on the benadryl for a week and I didn't want to interfere with that. 3 of the mast cell tumors are gone and the last, large one is healing nicely. His ears, eyes and face are no longer as "pink" as they were when we saw the vet. So it appears that the antihistamine is doing what it is supposed to do. Now, do we keep him on this for life or are we done with it? I will talk with the vet later this week to find out.

I do have the tea tree at the ready should they reappear if/when we are done with the benadryl.

His skin is another story. It is so dry and scaly looking. It hurts me to look at it. And to watch him walk away from me is so very painful, seeing his skin thru the little bit of hair left on his back.

I feel like I'm watching him die before my eyes. Wasting away. But he's still a sweetie pie and still gave his momma a good bite on the ankle during his out time this weekend - stinker!! As long as he's still having fun I'll keep trying whatever it takes.

Can you give him any supplements for the dry skin, like ferretone or will it too interfere with your treatment?
hugs to you both! He sure is a trooper!

Giving him extra ferretone in each of his bowls of "soup" (2 per day). So far haven't noticed any less flaking or scaliness. I've even considered lotioning him up but then figured he'd be cold.

He really can't be bothered with all my fussing over him either. He gets awfully squirmy when I'm checking out his skin, feet, ears, etc. Like - Mom, just let me go run around and chase the dog!!! I'm fine, sheesh.

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Originally Posted by Queen of Poop

He gets awfully squirmy when I'm checking out his skin, feet, ears, etc. Like - Mom, just let me go run around and chase the dog!!! I'm fine, sheesh.

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Typical ferret behavior, he must be feeling ok. lol ;)

Just off the phone with Sebastian's vet. Since the benadryl seems to be working for him, we've decided to keep him on it for a while. All his mast cell tumors are GONE from his back and the pinkness is gone from his face/ears. We're going to try just giving it to him just in the morning and see if the tumors/pinkness stays away, if not he'll be back to having it twice a day.'

He was a little stinker this morning. I had him out and he was playing with his new toy. A GAP bag stuffed with a few other plastic bags. I tied the top of the GAP bag with its string so he can't actually get inside it. It confounded him.

Well, another month has gone by. We're going to the vet tomorrow evening for another lupron shot. Unfortunately there is NO hair growth. So the lupron/melatonin combination is not working for Sebastian. In fact, he's lost so much hair now that he as a "bare bum"!!! If it were possible I'd gather up all of the dog hair from the floor (as we are in serious shed mode) and paste it to Sebastian - No I would never really do that!!! I just feel so badly for my little furless boy. Good news is that the benadryl is working and his mast cell tumors are gone. Not sure where we'll go from here with him. He's a sweet boy and I love him with all my heart. I think he knows this cause he's sure been dolling out the ferret kisses to his mommy lately. Anyways, just wanted to update his condition for those that are interested.

I'm so sorry that it isn't really working for the poor guy. I wish there was something I could do about it. Yous are in my thoughts often.

Sebastian has gained weight but lost muscle mass. He is still very active and a sweetie pie. The vet had trouble finding a good muscle to inject the lupron into last night. He will be completely bald soon and it may not grow back at all. He's already getting a double dose of lupron, we might triple it. With his bald little butt you can see the bone structure in his back end really well. This is very distressing to me. With the muscle mass loss it looks like my sweet boy is going slowly downhill. He's scared the crap out of me 3 times in the last few weeks. I've gotten up in the night to let Sasha out and I always check on Sebastian. I found him lying in the litter box. Freaky cause my 3 other ferrets that have passed on all chose to die in the litter box. Fortunately he's been ok. So, for now we carry on and hope for the best.