From:
dbooras@home.com
Date: 2001-03-13 20:30:00 UTC
Subject: Re:Hobbes' Urinary Challenges
Did your vet mention to you whether or not Hobbes' prostrate was
enlarged? I have only had experience with one adrenal ferret and he
was diagnosed based mostly on his personality changes as he had no
hair loss yet. Kind of hard for you to notice personality changes
since you just recently adopted him.
Rusty did start drinking excessive amounts of water and he couldn't
pass a litter box without stopping (and there are a lot of them around
here!). It seemed to me he was straining a bit and not producing a
lot of urine which is because his prostrate was enlarged due to
adrenal. Other signs were a loss of energy and ichiness. Rusty also
became obsessed with cleaning the other ferrets' ears and if they
didn't cooperate, he got kind of rough which was a huge personality
change as he has always been my "flower child."
The first vet we saw wasn't comfortable doing adrenal surgery with no
hair loss (and he was written up in a newspaper as a ferret
specialist). The second vet agreed that Rusty had all the classic
symptoms of adrenal and thought catching it early before hair loss was
a bonus. Rusty had the surgery and is now minus his left adrenal
gland and the above symptoms.
Donna