From:
Jacqueline Snyder
Date: 2001-05-03 14:57:00 UTC
Subject: Earliest symptoms of adrenal disease?
I am trying to decide whether to have Joe tested for adrenal disease
(Tennessee panel) or to wait and see what happens next.
Joe is about 4 years old, probably MF, and looks quite healthy. He's big,
almost 4 pounds. He has no hair loss, not even on his toes. The reason I'm
suspicious of adrenal disease is simply that he has suddenly changed from
being fairly uninterested in other ferrets to almost aggressively grooming
them. He will hold down other ferrets, male and female, and clean their
ears. I'm inclined to believe that a behavior change like that is driven by
a change in body chemistry, rather than a change in attitude. But there
really isn't anything else to go on--our vet checked Joe out and suggested
waiting, but he said he'd do the test if I wanted.
Now, please note thatJoe stresses out very easily. He does not do well with
trips to the vet or other major changes. (It took him weeks to adapt to
living in our business. At one point during that time we started to think
he had a serious illness--it was just stress.)
So should I spend big bucks (well, semi-big bucks) on a feeling, or is it
prudent to wait?