If your ferret cannot undergo surgical treatment, talk with your vet about available medications, such as melatonin, for ferret adrenal disease. Melatonin is naturally produced in the body. In intact ferrets, it coordinates with hormones produced in the brain to control adrenal sex hormone release. This control is disrupted when a ferret is spayed or neutered, causing brain hormones to continually trigger adrenal sex hormone release.Melatonin treatment block the release of these hormones from the brain, thus preventing adrenal sex hormone release.Time-release melatonin implants that go under the skin can mimic the body’s seasonal rhythm of melatonin levels. Your vet would use a device to inject the implant under the skin. Every 3 to 6 months, your vet would need to replace the implant.Although melatonin can be given by mouth, it is very challenging to give a ferret an oral medication. Ferrets can easily spit pills and liquid medications back out.Melatonin is not curative., Lupron blocks estrogen and testosterone release. It can be given as a muscle injection or as a slow-release implant under the skin.The injection can last up to a few months. If your vet gives your ferret a Lupron injection, you may see some swelling at the injection site; this is normal.Although Lupron is a very effective, it is expensive and must be given for the duration of a ferret’s life., Other than melatonin and Lupron, several other drugs are available, including Mitotane and deslorelin.Remember that, although each drug works a little bit differently, their main function is to suppress sex hormone release from the adrenals. Your vet can determine which drugs will be most likely to work in your ferret.


Deslorelin is implanted under the skin.As you consider medical treatment for your ferret, remember that the drugs will not cure adrenal disease. They will only reduce the disease symptoms.
Give your ferret melatonin.
Have your vet administer Lupron.
Discuss other medical treatments with your vet.
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