Deslorelin Implants

Hey folks! Long time no see. I used to frequent around here but I'm really not super social so ya I faded away, as is customary for me in any social setting haha.

I find myself in need of some rat-based opinions though!

Lately, I've been thinking of using Deslorelin implants in my girls as an alternative to traditional spays.
Now, here in the US, it's pretty costly due to the price of the implant itself. I've been told that this will go down within the next few years as generic options become available.

BUT, I have a girl whose hormones are presumably driving her nuts. She's acting very extremely, and it seems to be related to her hormones (especially because it seems to correlate with her heat cycle).

So I'd like to spay her ideally to help with that.
Thing is, she's very small. So my vet had told me she couldn't find any information about using these implants in animals as small as her. At the time, she was under 300g. This is despite the fact that she was 9 months old. She's nearly a year now and she's still very small, although admittedly I have not weighed her in a hot minute so I'm not positive on her exact weight. My vet is still willing to implant her, but I have to accept that "there may be some unforeseen side effects that we cannot plan for."

I can also go the route of the traditional spay, but this is a new vet and she hasn't done many and I'm just kind of nervous because I know it's a rather invasive surgery. I really like the idea of the implants because they are just so non-invasive.

So just wondering, what are your experiences with the implant? Have you ever had any negative side effects? And have you ever used them in a very small rat? Thanks!

I do not know anyone who has used these implants but someone might.

As for spaying, if you do that then you need to find a good vet with the knowledge and experience to do it safely

Your vet could contact other vets who know more about rats as well as the vet group online to find out more information about the implants. Your vet might want to contact this vet https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/ontario-dr-munn-has-moved-to-norwood.34332/

Thought I would slap an update on this thread.

I went through with the implant and it was very easy and successful.
The price was a bit unfavorable, but again - should go down as generics become available. I will definitely consider doing this again.
I am hoping the cost will become cheaper soon.

Some further summarizing:
-The process took a few minutes
-My vet lightly sedated her
-My vet gave me metacam, but Cookie did not need it
-There were no negative side effects at all
-It was about the same cost as a spay

So, on the positive side - there is not all the healing and post-op surgery care from a pretty invasive surgery.
On the negative, it's expensive, for something that only lasts 10-12 months. And I wouldn't trust putting an implanted female with a unfixed male (I neuter all my males).

But, it can help protect against tumors, is very safe, very low stress and very low pain for the rat.

And the reason I did it was successful! Cookie did chill out. It took about a month, but she finally stopped terrorizing her cagemates.
I did the implant June 3rd last year, and I still have not seen Cookie go into a heat cycle.

Cookie weighed 295 grams when she was implanted with the 4.7 mg Deslorelin implant.

Do you happen to have any updates with your girl and any tumor developments that may have occured since you posted this? We're taking one of our girls in for this procedure next week, after weighing the best options.