From:
Dr. Bruce Williams
Date: 2001-02-27 22:38:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Help Adrenal Tumor or Ovarian Remnent
Dear Kelly,
Unfortunately, the swollen vulva is likely a sign that she has a
bilateral adrenal condition. Adrenal disease is bilateral in about
15% of cases, and usually does require a second surgery down the
road. Is she displaying any of the other signs that she showed when
first diagnosed with adrenal disease?
Regarding the inability to get her back on kibble - some ferrets
simply love the TLC of hand-feeding and take extra long to get back
on the kibble. Duck soup can be habit forming. The fact that she is
gaining weight is a good thing, though - far better than if she was
losing weight. It is difficult to say whether 90cc's is too much, as
duck soup comes in all types of formulations and dilutions - the fact
that she is putting on weight shows that it is at least an
appropriate amount.
Regarding the possibility of an ovarian remnant - these are rare
enough that most clinicians have never seen one, but only heard of
them. Because the large ferret producers are so efficient with
neutering, most of the ovarian remnants are actually seen in ferrets
that were neutered later in life by vets. I have had many submitted,
but only one was ever diagnosed - all the rest were lymph nodes,
little bits of fat, etc. The ovarian remnant is stuff of legend, but
probably is only seen in less than 1% of ferrets with evidence of
swollen vulva - it's almost always adrenals (again in this case.)
With kindest regards,
Bruce H. Williams, DVM
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--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., kfor651676@a... wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
> I tried to post this last night and failed. Hope this one works. I
am
> excited about this new list. I have a female ferret, Ellie. She
is about
> 3yrs. She had surgery about 6wks ago to remove her left adrenal.
The vet
> said the tumor was hypertrophy. She has not eaten kibble since.
She has no
> real interest in food, but will eat duck soup with a little
encouragement
> (her reg. food mixed with chicken BF). She gained a lot of weight
the first
> two weeks after surgery. She was 1.8, now 2.4. I feed her
slightly less
> than 90ccs. per day is that too much? I only feed her three times
per day
> due to my work schedule. She does not have an ulcer, she is not
lethargic.
> In the past two weeks her vulva has become swollen. She did not
have this
> symptom previously. We have two separate vets, but they don't know
of the
> swollen vulva yet. They are fabulous people, but are not the most
ferret
> knowledgeable. The not eating kibble was odd to me, but know the
swollen
> vulva? They did the surgery based on alopecia and an ultrasound.
Could it
> also be a remnant? I don't want to put her through another
surgery! I
> really need some advice.
> Thanks,
> Kelly