Some people believe that Melatonin implants might help prevent our ferrets from getting cancer. This idea is based on some research papers (on humans) that show a higher rate of certain cancers among people who work the night shift. The theory is that being exposed to light at night reduces the amount of Melatonin in the blood, and that Melatonin helps prevent cancer.
We’ve suspected for a while now that exposing our ferrets to unnatural light cycles might be over-stimulating the adrenal glands, and causing them to develop tumors (which seem to eventually turn into cancer). The thought that using slow-release Melatonin implants might help protect from these effects is exciting. The research is not complete, but anecdotal evidence from owners who have used the implants seems to be encouraging. Again, it all seems to work better when used early. Some people are implanting young ferrets, hoping this will protect the ferret from the over-stimulation of the adrenal gland, which seems to cause the hyperplasia (weird cells) which eventually turns into cancer.
One thing for sure, the Melatonin certainly grows fur. There is no question of that. Theimplanted ferrets at the shelter also seem to gain weight and just feel a bit better. We started using it on ferrets who looked a bit sparse on the shoulders. We found that it not only grew fur, but seemed to relieve a bit of the stress the ferrets were feeling. It’s very hard for ferrets to be in a shelter with so many other animals. People come and go all the time, ferrets come and go, the lights are on while volunteers clean litter boxes … all things that cause stress in ferrets.
Several ferrets have not only grown a full coat of fur, but they’ve grown in an *impressive* coat of fur, including cute little white tufts behind the ears!
It doesn’t seem to have any bad side effects, although a few ferrets are quite sleepy at first. The sleepiness does wear off before the Melatonin is depleted, so perhaps they just needed to get used to it.
— Barb Carlson
