From:
Mike Janke
Date: 2001-08-17 18:37:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Diagnosing adrenal disease
Standard blood tests will not reveal adrenal disease. The University
of Tennessee here in the states runs what we refer to as the "adrenal
panel" and this is fairly good at detecting the elevated hormone
levels caused by adrenal disease.
Surgery is definitely the best choice and 5 is not too old for this
surgery on an otherwise healthy ferret. Of course it would be best
done by a surgeon that is familiar with ferrets.
I don't think using Lupron would cause any problems if used in a
ferret that doesn't have adrenal disease, but that's really just a
guess. I have heard some say they've used it to see if the symptoms
reverse, thereby confirming adrenal disease.
mike
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Per Amneus" <per.amneus@f...> wrote:
> Our 5 yo female, Cilla, show several symptoms of adrenal gland
disease: A
> month ago she had a urine infection and had to be treated with
antibiotics.
> We also noted that she scratches herself often, especially at
shoulders and
> above hind legs. Last week she started losing hair on the back.
>
> We will see the veterinary next week. However, our veterinary might
be a
> very nice person, but he doesn't seem to have much experience from
ferrets,
> I'm not really certain about how much he knows about ferret
diseases and
> their treatment. Is there a way to detect adrenal gland disease
through
> blood tests or similar? And in case, how accurate are these tests?
>
> Since Cilla is pretty old, surgery does not seem like a good idea.
I
> understand Lupron is the best alternative to surgery? But what
happens if
> Lupron is given to ferret that does not have adrenal gland disease?