From:
Mary McCarty - Houser
Date: 2001-02-27 12:07:00 UTC
Subject: adrenal stuff
> Do you see any thing that looks like Black Heads (acne)? A slightly
> orangey crust? It is probably something commonly know as "rattail".
> The best wasy to take care of it is to keep it clean by washing every
> other day with noxzema or someother mild acne soap. If you start on
I've actually had better luck fighting the blackheads by washing the tail
only once a week and using an old toothbrush to gently scrub it (helps
loosen the gunk out of the hair follicles). After washing/scrubbing, I use
a facial pad (noxema, oxy, whatever) and rub it up and down the tail for
about 15 - 30 seconds.
I do this once per week for up to three weeks. Doing it more often can
cause the tail to dry out.
> I have a couple of ?'s. At what age are they considered adult and
> how much ferretone should I be giving him each day, I am giving
> him 1 tsp is this enough or too much?
Ferrets are usually considered adult around 6 months of age. I usually
give Ferretone maybe once per week, not daily, but then I tend to be a
treat nazi <g>
> My 4 year old ferret Moose had adrenal surgery approx. 6 weeks ago. The
> vet found his right adrenal to be the affected one and performed
>cryosurgery rather than remove it. He doesn't believe Lupron is needed
>after surgery, but I have read many people have the surgery and then a
>few doses of Lupron to regulate the hormones.
The only time I would recommend Lupron after surgery is if the ferret is
still showing symptoms and you don't want to do surgery again. I think you
may be confusing Lupron with Florinef and Pred, which are commonly given
to ferrets immediately following bilateral adrenal surgery.
> Moose has shown no real signs of improvement since his surgery. He is
> even getting worse in his aggressiveness and attempts to mate with the
> others. I have found him a few times in what I can only describe as a
I'm assuming your vet did not take out the left adrenal? Or perhaps the
right gland was too big for cryosurgery to be really effective?
Because of so many repeat surgeries needed, I've finally just decided that
when a ferret goes in for adrenal surgery, both glands come out even if
only one of them is bad. So far, I've not needed a ferret to be on hormone
therapy, so there is enough adrenal tissue left that the hormones are
okay. I've had done 15+ bilaterals since last summer and all have come
thru with flying colors and no recurring symptoms (knock on wood).
Dr. Weiss has done the majority of my surgeries and while he normally
doesn't recommend this for everyone (because of the possibility of hormone
therapy), he knows that I am aware of the possible problems and can deal
with them.
> curled tightly around whomever he is trying to mate with, and when I
> pull him off, he can't relax his body. I pry him off and put my finger
I've seen this, too, in adrenal ferrets. I believe it's just the sexual
aggression, but is there a possibility of him being insulinomic? Did your
vet check his pancreas when he was in there for surgery?
> expect. I thought the surgery would take care of everything. I know it
> can be a while for his hair to come back, but is this extreme type of
>mating behavior normal?
This is normal if the other adrenal gland is bad and it was not removed in
the initial surgery. Sounds like you want to do another surgery or put him
on Lupron or some other med.
Remember, even if an adrenal gland "looks" good, it can still be abnormal
inside. Dr. Weiss has mentioned that if you cut into the adrenal gland you
can tell that it's bad even though initially it looks fine on the outside
(i.e., not swollen, discolored, etc.).
Again, another reason I have both removed when doing the initial surgery.
Hope this helps!
Mary
=====
Mary McCarty-Houser, Director
Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association of Centre County
http://www.ferretrescue.com
http://www.iGive.com/html/ssi.cfm?cid=9903&mid=114508
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