Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

bevs2251 — Sat, 30 Sep 2017 02:51:44 GMT

We do see adrenal disease in ferrets in Australia where they are traditionally desexed at around 6 months & tend to have indoor/outdoor lifestyle (so receive plenty of natural light).

Current thoughts are to give the 12 month suprelorin implant at the same time as desexing & repeat implant every 2-3 years. Most ferrets I've seen only live 5-6 years here. I have seen a few reach 8-9 years. Most die of lymphosarcoma & insulinoma more so than adrenal disease here. I used to take out L adrenal gland years ago but haven't done one for about 10 years since the implant became available. One ferret (owned by vet nurse) had L adrenal out (me) & partial adrenelectomy of R side (specialist) & still showed signs (swollen vulva) so received the implant as well ! I have seen an even distribution of males & females with adrenal disease.

In USA, desexing is done at 6-8 weeks at Marshall farms by techs under ketamine anaesthesia only before they are onsold to pet shops, so desexed at a very early age. They also remove the anal glands as well. Plus mostly indoor lifestyle so adrenal disease much more common there.

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 13:34:23 GMT

As has been said, you need a quick GA for suprelorin, which, added to the cost of the drug, brings it well in excess of £100. What do you charge for ferret neuters Martin?

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Marie Kubiak — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 12:44:35 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]

[quote user="CatherineThomas"] I think so far everyone has gone for surgical neutering as it's about the same cost as the implant [/quote]Sorry to hijack the thread but doesn't this tell you that you are grossly undercharging for a skillful, potentially risky surgical procedure?

[/quote]

It is the same technique as for cat castrates (or midline spay) does anyone charge over £100 for a cat neuters?

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

CatherineThomas — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 12:42:37 GMT

It's similar to a cat spay/castrate so not terribly difficult or time consuming. We have a reasonable mark up on the suprelorin and I implant it under a short anaesthetic, so add an anaesthetic fee.

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Neil Wheadon — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 11:10:15 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]Sorry to hijack the thread but doesn't this tell you that you are grossly undercharging for a skillful, potentially risky surgical procedure?[/quote]

Or conversely, how much superlorin is

Neil

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 11:06:07 GMT

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Neil Wheadon — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 11:03:49 GMT

[quote user="CatherineThomas"]I usually wait til about 6 months before neutering which I believe is much later than they do it in America.[/quote]

which is the conclusion from a vetnurse/receptionist who we know who has ferrets. In the USA they neuter far earlier than we would even consider here, as a result the whole adrenal issue is pretty skewed

Neil

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

CatherineThomas — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 10:32:58 GMT

I also discuss it with the owner and give them the options. If they want "the jill jab" they'll have to pay for a whole bottle, so i've not had any take this up. I think so far everyone has gone for surgical neutering as it's about the same cost as the implant but there's a good chance they won't need implants in future and if they do they'll probably get a few years before it's needed. If the ferret gets to 5 years before they develop adrenal years that is 5 years worth of suprelorin they've saved. I just make sure they are aware of the symptoms of adrenal disease to look out for.

I usually wait til about 6 months before neutering which I believe is much later than they do it in America.

I've frequently investigated for adrenal disease but so far i've not found any cases.

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Marie Kubiak — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 20:57:51 GMT

I'm with Mark on this- age of onset and prevalence of adrenal hyperplasia cannot be extrapolated from US. Their genetics and management are completely different. Our genetically distinct UK ferrets with exposure to seasonal variation and much later neutering don't suffer the same consequences. There is still the view from academics that we must blindly follow literature because no UK data is published but in this case it just can't be compared. Those of us at the coalface seeing neutered ferrets of 8+ yrs regularly and rarely picking up adrenal disease (despite being hyperaware initially and scanning everything neutered if it looked at me a bit squiffy).

I spend a whe discussing pros and cons of each option and let owners have an input. Outdoor/hunting ferrets suit vasectomy well, indoor pampered pets with well heeled owners are more likely to choose implants but standard owners mostly go with surgical neutering as late as is reasonable with a view to implant later on if hyperplasia develops.

Marie

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Gillian Mostyn — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 19:49:25 GMT

[quote user="Mark Rowland"]You have to throw the bottle of delvosterone after a single draw which makes it financially non viable.[/quote]

Only if you 'play by the rules'.

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Rob Loxley — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 19:41:47 GMT

[quote user="Mark Rowland"]I adopt the approach that if a ferret develops signs of adrenal disease, that can be treated with an implant anyway so I personally don't have much issue neutering as long as the owners are aware of all the options.[/quote]

Going back to the title question, do you think this affects lifespan - ie if you neuter and get adrenal dx and treat with suprelorin, do they live shorter than if no neuter and suprelorin from the start?

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Mark Rowland — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 17:44:17 GMT

[quote user="Harriet Nicholson"]

[quote user="Rob Davis"]

I was under the impression that most of this data comes from USA, and that there is some doubt whether the figures are the same here. I'm not aware of any data to back this up, but anecdotally I have always be surprised at how infrequently we appear to see adrenal disease in neutered ferrets compared to these published figures....

[/quote]

I can only report what information I have received from CPD - Simon Girling was adamant you shouldn't be neutering - but then I realise a lot of exotic work is one persons word against another especially in the UK.

[/quote]

Yep there are lots of differences of opinion.

So Superlorin isn't licensed in females in this country.

Also it seems incidence of Adrenal diseases is much higher in the US. I see very little and we see lots of ferrets.

You have to throw the bottle of delvosterone after a single draw which makes it financially non viable.

Vasectomised hobs works but not many opt for that (it doesn't reduce the smell)

I adopt the approach that if a ferret develops signs of adrenal disease, that can be treated with an implant anyway so I personally don't have much issue neutering as long as the owners are aware of all the options.

The final point is very true. Here for example we argue over things like different pro kinetics for gut stasis whereas in the US none are really used as it is widely accepted that the best prokinetic is food (syringe feeding) with appropriate pain relief and fluid therapy.

"It goes on Judah"

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Harriet Nicholson — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 15:41:52 GMT

[quote user="Rob Davis"]

[/quote]

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Rob Davis — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 15:22:18 GMT

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Harriet Nicholson — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 13:09:25 GMT

Yes, according to CPD, they said males and females affected. So I would either implant with suprelorin or you can vasectomise

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Neil Wheadon — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 11:54:21 GMT

Oops, sorry in male ferrets, not females. However it looks from your answer that male ferrets are similarly affected if remove the testicles?

Neil

RE: Neutering ferrets - does it shorten their life?

Harriet Nicholson — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 11:50:34 GMT

I was very recently on Ferret CPD with Simon Girling as the lecturer. He said that it is not recommended to surgically neuter ferrets at all due to the increased incidence in neutered ferrets of adrenal gland neoplasms.

He gave the options as vascetomised hobb, suprelorin implant, deslorelin injeciton (jill jab) - but prefers the suprelorin.

Hope that helps :)