From:
Shortley, Lisa
Date: 2001-04-23 05:36:00 UTC
Subject: adrenal shocker
Hello!
Just wanted to tell you all that I had another bad thing
happen with my crew. I don't know why my guys are having such
bad luck. But my two year old ferret Tasia had an exploratory
for a suspected stomach blockage on Friday and while the
debris was removed (white fuzzy stuff from hammocks), an
adrenal tumor on her left gland was found as well.
Tasia showed absolutely no signs of adrenal disease - no
behavior changes, no coat changes - she's as white soft and
fluffy as a bunny - no swollen vulva - absolutely NOTHING.
My vet said that he felt that he caught it early enough and
that if it had waited another 6 months or so, she would have
started showing signs. I'm thrilled to have caught this early
but it makes me worry about the rest of my crew now. Would I
be overly paranoid to run the Tennessee panel on the remainder
of my crew that has not had adrenal surgery yet? I'd much
rather catch it early before they start showing signs. I know
it isn't 100% accurate, but in cases such as these, would it
pick that up theoretically?
As for the debris in her stomach, the only way I suspect that
it got into her system is that my guys dig at their hammocks
and the fleecy stuff that lines their hammocks and sacks gets
loose and some always manages to fall into their water bowl.
She had to have dranken the fleecy stuff with her water -
there is no evidence of chewing and she is not a chewer at
all. Anyone know what I can do to stop this from happening
again short of no longer using the white fleecy stuff on
hammocks and things?
Thanks for listening,
Lisa Shortley