Message Number: YG468 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Mary McCarty - Houser
Date: 2001-03-01 14:50:00 UTC
Subject: adrenal, wheezing, etc.

> cats...so, I used him for the ferts...the vet said that even tho she
> has been spayed, she still has hormones secreted by the pituitary
> (sp?) gland and that is why she has a swollen vulva...he didn't want
> to exploratory surgery yet...so, he gave me some 'birth control'
> drops called Cheque to give her for 10 days...just a drop a day...
> My question, Dr. Williams, is this ok for a ferret? And if not, what
> can I do? I really hesitate to tell my vet he is wrong since he is

I have to disagree with your vet. If this was true, then all females would
have swollen vulvas all the time.

I would suggest printing out the adrenal information from the sites that
are listed in our Bookmark section at Yahoo Groups - especially Mike
Janke's site (www.miamiferret.org/fhc), among others. It's excellent. This
way your vet can become up-to-date on the latest info regarding adrenal.

> Just ask your vet for some small red stopper top blood tubes- for the
> saliva test you put 1ml of saline in each tube, use a q-tip- swirl
> around in the gums and mouth for 1 minute then put it in the tube and

Make sure the tube you get is completely clean & empty - some have
anti-coagulent in the bottom.

> Also, what is ADV? Does it affect me or my ferret at
> all?

Check out the following websites to learn more about ADV:

http://www.ferret.org/aleutian.htm
http://www.geocities.com/wolfysluv/adv-straight.html
http://www.avecon.com/AveconADV.htm

> 1) Ferrets with adrenal disease don't grow hair back unless they have
> surgery. So, Kif probably didn't have adrenal. (I disagree.)

I agree with you, Jaq. You might want to print him out some information
about Adrenal, especially anything Dr. Williams and Dr. Weiss have to say
about the hair regrowth.

Within all that bloodwork, did you get a Blood Glucose done for Trevor?
For insulinomic ferrets at my shelter, we normally do a BG test every 3 -
4 months (whether they have surgery or not). That helps me adjust pred
dosage and decide if another surgery is warrented.

Give Kif and Trevor a kiss for me!

> he has done another with no blood. we are in the process of switching
> from iams kitten to iams regular, but with these two we are not sure
>what they were eating previous to coming here, and this is the only
>change in environment recently. any suggestions?

Could be the food change, especially since you don't know what they were
on before. When the fecal was done, did they check for coccidia,
clostridium, etc.?

> <snip>
> Could this be symtoms of heartwoms?
>
> Frances
> and the Fuzzie Weasels
> <snip>
>
> I'm wondering out loud if it could be a symptom of cardiomyopathy even
> though the ferret is only 9mo.? I've never had a ferret with this

I was thinking the same thing. A chest xray may be helpful.

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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