Twenty-five ferret jills were randomly allocated to five groups of five animals; they were treated either before the breeding season with 15 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), with 40 mg proligestone or with a slow-releasing device containing 4.7 mg of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist deslorelin acetate (srGnRH), or at spring oestrus with 100 iu human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), or were left untreated and mated. All the ferrets were assessed for signs of oestrus and their ovarian response was monitored by individual faecal progesterone metabolite (P4-met) profiles. The mean (sd) durations of treatment-induced ovarian quiescence were 94 (18), 99 (40), 53 (9) and 698 (122) days in the group treated with MPA, proligestone, hCG and srGnRH, respectively (P<0.001). Treatment with hCG and srGnRH proved to be the safest, while MPA treatment was associated with most side effects. Both MPA and proligestone treatments caused alopecia in one ferret per group, and after the first return to oestrus and mating an MPA-treated jill had a premature delivery and developed a purulent vaginal discharge. At the first post-treatment mating, the fertility (expressed as the percentage of ferrets mated in the group that produced a litter) was 75 per cent in the MPA-treated group, 60 per cent in the proligestone-treated group, 75 per cent in the hCG-treated group and 0 per cent in the srGnRH-treated group; in the control group, fertility was 100 per cent at mating in spring and 60 per cent at mating in summer. Three srGnRH-treated jills conceived at the second post-treatment oestrus.

Maternal plasma leptin is elevated in ewes during pregnancy. The authors studied whether there was any relation between maternal plasma leptin and insulin concentrations, the number of fetuses and the circulating and faecal levels of gestagens. At the end of the breeding season in January the ovarian activity of Prolific Merino ewes was induced/synchronised with gestagen + eCG treatment. Ewes were inseminated artificially (AI) by laparoscopy. Blood and faecal samples were collected before AI (day 0) and again 41, 81 and 101 days later. The plasma levels of leptin (pL), insulin and progesterone (pP 4 ), and the faecal P 4 metabolite (P 4 -met) content were determined. The day 0 level of pL was significantly higher in pregnant (n = 24) than in non-pregnant ewes (n = 32). By day 41 the pL of pregnant animals had doubled, it showed a further moderate increase on day 81, and decreased slightly thereafter. During pregnancy pP 4 and faecal P 4 -met rose continuously and were positively correlated at all stages. The mean levels of pL and pP 4 and the faecal content of P 4 -met were lower in ewes bearing single (n = 12) than in those with 2 (n = 6) or 3-5 fetuses (n = 6). Analysis of variance demonstrated significant differences according to the number of fetuses in the pL and pP 4 , but not in P4-met (p = 0.042, 0.044, and 0.051, respectively). Leptin showed positive correlation with insulin before the AI but not during pregnancy. On days 41 and 81 pL showed a slight positive correlation with P 4 and P 4 -met, which decreased slightly by day 101. This study shows that although leptinaemia is affected by the number of fetuses and the level of P 4 , pregnancy stage is a more important regulator than these additional factors.

Metabolic and endocrine characteristics of pregnancy toxemia are well documented in small ruminants, but less known in other species. The objective of this study was to measure plasma levels of certain metabolites and metabolic hormones related to the energetic status in blood from sick and healthy, non-pregnant (control) ferrets. Blood was collected from moribund, hypothermic, late pregnant females suffering from pregnancy toxemia (n = 4) and from healthy female ferrets (n = 14) to measure glucose, ketone (βOH-butyrate, BHB), insulin, thyroxine (T 4 ) and 3,3' ,5-triiodothyronine (T 3 ) concentrations. In contrast to healthy animals, hypoglycemia, hyperketonemia, hypoinsulinemia and decreased T 4 and T 3 levels were detected in females with pregnancy toxemia and necropsy showed excessive hepatic lipidosis. In summary, it can be concluded that pregnancy toxemia caused by a negative energy balance in ferrets resembles the late-gestational hyperketonemia of twin-pregnant ewes, and moreover that similar endocrine changes may occur.Keywords: gestational ketosis; insulin; thyroxine (T 4 ); 3,3' ,5-triiodo-thyronine (T 3 ) Pregnancy toxemia (syn. gestational ketosis) caused by negative energy balance in late gestation is commonly observed in ewes and does (Henze et al

Hyperoestrogenism causing progressive alopecia in neutered ferrets may be induced by ovarian remnant syndrome (ORS) and nodular hyperplasia of the adrenocortex (hyperadrenocorticism, NHA). The objective of the study was to determine whether a slow-release implant of a gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue, deslorelin, has any value in therapy of hyperoestrogenism of adrenocortical origin (NHA). Three supposed cases of NHA with alopecia and other clinical signs of hyperoestrogenism (n = 2 spayed females in oestrous and n = 1 castrated male) were treated with a subcutaneous implant of 4.7 mg deslorelin acetate. Blood samples were collected, and plasma levels of estradiol (E 2 ) were determined just before, and some weeks after treatment. For realistic monitoring, blood samples for E 2 determination were also taken from intact, healthy (untreated control) females after the beginning of heat (n = 5), or 9-21 days after, with hCG induced ovulation (n = 6), or out of breeding season (n = 3). Before treatment, all three alopecic ferrets showed elevated E 2 concentrations (99.45-139.9 pmol/l) similar to the untreated control females in oestrous (61.6-123.02 pmol/l) (P = 0.229). Some weeks after the deslorelin administration, the hair of these ferrets began to grow again and the elevated E 2 concentrations significantly decreased compared to the pre-treatment values (P = 0.035). E 2 concentrations reached the basal level (12.89-16.08 pmol/l) typical for that of the untreated control females in anoestrus or in luteal phase (12.0-30.58 pmol/l) (P = 0.137). All treated ferrets were examined again 19-21 months after implant insertion (the implant still being present) and all of them had normal hair and were clinically healthy. These observations prove that deslorelin can suppress the E 2 production of NHA, and is therefore a useful tool in the therapy of hormonal alopecia neutered ferrets.