From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2001-09-07 01:12:00 UTC
Subject: Re: possible adrenal
>I have recently heard of a ferret that might have adrenal. It's a
>five year old intact female. She's had one litter when she was one
>year old. She has since been taken out of heat by a vasectomized hob
>once, sometimes twice a year. She has lived all her life outdoors
>under natural photoperiods, and been fed only a natural diet mainly
>consisting of whole carcasses. She was vaccinated with Fervac-D as a
>kit, but has not been revaccinated since 1998 (when she was two years
>old).
>
>Early this spring she came into heat at the same time as the other
>females. But after only a week she suddenly dropped out of heat
>spontaneously. Nothing else happened for several weeks, then she
>started to loose her hair. It was a general thinning of the hair all
>over the body, mostly on the back at first. Now she is almost
completely bald.
Marie, has the ferret been checked for the possibility of a
protracted estrus? If that is the problem then it might soon become
very dangerous to do nothing.
Why is the person doing nothing? Wasn't there even a vet visit?
Certainly, adrenal tumors do exist in whole ferrets. No one knows
the percentages for comparison, but multiple people have mentioned
whole ferrets with such growths.
If it is protracted heat then the female needs to be spayed. If it
is an adrenal growth the ferret needs to have it removed. In a
vibrant 5 year old there is no reason avoid taking such important
health actions, especially since she will likely have a good many
years ahead of her after receiving responsible veterinary care.