From:
eeriksen@rei.edu
Date: 2001-08-16 20:11:00 UTC
Subject: Re: adrenal ferret- surgery or lupron?
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., katharine <shurcool@i...> wrote:
> Eileen and "Barky" wrote:
> <A pre-op blood test looked normal, but he later
> bled from both feet where they took his blood. He
> evetually stopped and the vet said this is normal
> for adrenal ferrets (?)<
>
> I have never, ever heard of that in any ferret
> getting bloodwork. My vet normally takes blood
> from the neck and the bleeding stops with just a
> little bit of pressure afterward. Maybe the paw
> pads bleed more???
>
> <He says most of the time they do well after the
> surgery and mostly it's the left adrenal- if it's
> the
> right he'll close up and talk about other
> treatment.<
>
> I think the first thing I would do is find a
> ferret savvy vet who is willing to tackle the
> right adrenal gland, if it's necessary. I would
> hate for a vet to open one of mine and not remove
> the gland causing the problem.
>
> All of the vets on this list recommend surgery as
> a first preference unless there are compelling
> reasons not to operate. I just had one go through
> a bilateral adrenalectomy and he's doing really
> well...we're just waiting for all that fur to grow
> back in.
>
> Katharine
Thanks very much for the reply, Katharine. I'm a bit concerned about
the bleeding too, maybe the foot pads do bleed more because they keep
bumping them on things as they move around, and of course they never
want to stay still. I only know two docs in my area (Torrance CA)
that really treat ferrets. One recommends Lupron, which he's been
having success with though he's only treated a few ferrets so far.
The other, the one with experience in surgery, says that the surgery
is better, and that in his experience most of the time it's the left
one, so I'm hoping with Barky that will be the case...I think Im
leaning more towards surgery as well, but I don't know of any vets
here willing to tackle the right one.If it's the right, we'll try
Lupron, I guess. Im glad your guy is doing well- do you have to treat
him with medication since they removed both?