From:
zus888@netzero.net
Date: 2001-10-07 04:02:00 UTC
Subject: Adrenal experiences; Rat tail vs. adrenal (cross posted)
About a month ago, Zinc was at the vet for her 4-6 week bloodwork
check up (for IBD and the meds she was on). Prior to this checkup
(likely several months before) she had developed what is commonly
known as rat tail (not a big case, but you could see the black heads
on the underside). I wish I had noted exactly when this occurred. I
didn't really take it too seriously since it's only blackheads. She
had exploratory surgery in November 2000, was diagnosed with IBD, and
put on pediapred and Imuran.
As we began weaning her off pediapred, she began gaining a bunch of
weight (from 1lb 3oz to 1lb 13oz!). I thought ferrets gained weight
on pediapred, not suppressed itÂ… Additionally, she began growing a
whole new coat underneath the old one. The day prior to this visit
with the vet, she lost an enormous amount of old fur. I thought it
was the pediapred as I've had the same experiences on prednisone.
The vet thought it was most likely adrenal. She had surgery, and
sure enough, the left adrenal was removed. She's been fine since.
Now, just this past week, Pixie began having diarrhea. She stopped
eating and lost 5oz of weight in one week. Luckily, we had yet
another Zinc appointment, which turned into a Pixie appointment.
Pixie has had rat tail for approximately a year now. She had surgery
yesterday and the vet removed the left adrenal, 2 tumors from the
pancreas, and biopsied a number of organs. She showed NO signs of
any of these things until 1 week ago!
Is it really just a coincidence that they both had rattail and
adrenal? I'm beginning to think that rattail is just an early sign
of adrenal. Zinc's rattail is gone now. I let you know whether
Pixie's goes away as a result of the surgery. Any comments?
Suzanna