AVA Conference Adelaide 2016

GnRH agonists suppress sex hormones and have traditionally been used to treat hormone-related diseases. Diseases such as ovarian cysts in guinea pigs and adrenal disease in ferrets have traditionally been treated surgically, but the advent of longer-acting GnRH agonists such as leuprolide injections and deslorelin implants have allowed them to be managed medically when appropriate. More recently, GnRH agonists have also been used to manage hormone-related behavioural problems such as aggression, hypersexuality and feather-plucking in species that are difficult to routinely desex, eg. birds and reptiles. The mechanism of action, duration of action and appropriateness of GnRH agonists for these different diseases and species will be discussed