Pippin old ferret report lol

The old fella is doing pretty well, he is up and down but mostly down and not on much insulin at all. His pancreas is working, at am test he was 129 and ate, a couple of hours later and he was down to 87.

He got his suprelorelin implant on wednesday which I was hoping might have some effect on his diabetes as that is something that can happen with adrenal disease, the whole endocrine system goes wonky.
I notice this morning though he has a lump at the injection site so I am hoping he doesnt have an infection in there, not only is that bad for him but when it drains he might lose the implant. They are very hard to come by and have to be brought from Australia and get FDA approval so it is a long expensive process. The implant needle is huge though so no wonder he has a problem, I shaved the area first and cleaned with betadine, trying to make it as safe as possible but still he has a lump, none of the others implanted got a lump at all.
I have been running around trying to put warm compresses on it but he is not impressed.
This is the implant needle in comparison to an insulin syringe, and you thought shooting insulin was bad!

If anyone has any suggestions about how to treat this I would love to hear them, the vet is again out till monday.

Oh, wow, that needle is huge! You're verra brave. I'm glad to see that Pippin is doing so well. :smile:

i have no suggestions, but the warmest wishes for a healthy implant pippin!!

good luck, buddy...

celi & binks

Holy crap...sorry...xcuse my french....goodness.....that is a big needle....I don't have any advise for ya......Just checking in to say that I hope the implant works for sweet Pippin.

I'm glad Pippin is doing well. I was not familiar with suprelorelin at all, but I Googled one site that said swelling at the implant site can persist for up to 14 days. I would perhaps try treating that with cold rather than heat. I would be concerned about an abscess. Does it look red and inflamed at all? I also wonder if ferrets are vulnerable to sarcomas at injection sites like cats are (mostly related to the injection of vaccines, but I belive also possible with injections of other substances). It might be worth having the vet take a look at it next week.

Yikes! Except for that harpoon and swelling, I'm glad that Pippin is doing well and his little pancreas is working better. What a good momma-bean you are. (Although I wonder if Pippin was thinking the same thing as you stuck that shovel under his skin!)

(((hugs)))

Well, it is nice that our favorite little ferret is doing well...except for that THING. That looks like a Moby Dick harpoon! nailbite_smile

Why do these things come up on holidays or weekends? I agree that the vet is the one who would have the answers. i wish you both well...hope it resolves on its own, but if it's still looking suspicious, I would call the vet on Monday if I were you...

Oh yes the vet will be called as soon as he is in, the problem here is no ER within a driveable distance so we have to be pioneers and use our wits until we can get in to the vet LOL and we know what a stretch that is for me to do :?
I would be interested in reading that info you found on suprelorelin Linda, the info I have didnt say anything about swelling so lets hope thats all it is, I put a little tissue glue on it after to control bleeding and hopefully prevent infection and now thats coming back to bite me in the butt I think, I cant soak the scab off now.

Deb and Pippin said:

I would be interested in reading that info you found on suprelorelin Linda, the info I have didnt say anything about swelling so lets hope thats all it is, I put a little tissue glue on it after to control bleeding and hopefully prevent infection and now thats coming back to bite me in the butt I think, I cant soak the scab off now.

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Here is the one I was looking at (second post down):

http://www.ferretsforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=4176&page=14

Thank you, my search didnt bring up any administration side effects at all, I hope thats all it is but none of the others have any swelling at all, so I dont know. ( I had to implant all 6)

I hope Pippin feels better soon. Hopefully just a small reaction to the implant and he will be back to normal soon.

sorry to hear about the infection/bump/whatever it is.
could it hurt to put a little neosporin on it? i have no idea if it can be used on ferrets...

Jill & Alex said:

sorry to hear about the infection/bump/whatever it is.
could it hurt to put a little neosporin on it? i have no idea if it can be used on ferrets...

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Yes I have been putting triple antibiotic on each of them several times a day, it is safe to use on ferrets thankfully, that and compresses are about all I can do until we can see the vet I think. At soup time tonight I checked them all again and now there are 3 with the swollen spot about an inch across above the implant site, so I dont know..... I will let you all know what happens.

oh no. hope things look better tomorrow.

I don't know, Deb, but sending hugs your way...

hope bump is already gone this am by time you read this.

googled and read.... interesting stuff. do you have a favorite site to share about using it in ferrets?

Cheryl and Winnie said:

hope bump is already gone this am by time you read this.

googled and read.... interesting stuff. do you have a favorite site to share about using it in ferrets?

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http://homepage.mac.com/exoticdvm/.Publ ... script.pdf

This is heavy reading but does explain it well, it is so prevalent now in ferrets that not becoming adrenal is the exception rather than the norm. Poor little guys, I have gone the surgery route and its not nice and so many complications so we are trying this to hopefully give them good quality of life and more time with us.

Hope the lump gets better soon this looks like a micro chip implant needle, was his implant similar in size to that?? for that looks just like what we use at work for microchips and yes they are huge IMO and the pets are not supposed to feel a thing yeah I just do not buy that theory myself been working as a tech too long and those are too big to not feel but anyway I would try warm compresses

Lisa and Do Lou said:

Hope the lump gets better soon this looks like a micro chip implant needle, was his implant similar in size to that?? for that looks just like what we use at work for microchips and yes they are huge IMO and the pets are not supposed to feel a thing yeah I just do not buy that theory myself been working as a tech too long and those are too big to not feel but anyway I would try warm compresses

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Thank you and yes I am sure it hurts, how could it not? The documentation said no prep is necessary but I did clip a small spot and clean it with betadine first because I felt it was important and couldn't hurt! Yes it is about the same as the micro chip needles.
I was putting warm compresses and ointment on them for a couple of days, today they all look to be healing well and Pippins lump is down a little so that's good, it seems to have rejuvenated them and they are bouncing around like kits! I have my work cut out for me today keeping them busy, I think a nice stroll in the stroller would be just the thing!

My uneducated prescription is many hugs and treats, and then reapply as necessary.

And of course, vines and snowflakes, which we are sending!