From:
NCFerretMom@yahoo.com
Date: 2002-08-28 22:15:24 UTC
Subject: RE: sammy
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <6083281.1030572924105.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Cathy, bilateral means that both sides were removed. A ferret has 2 adrenal glands, one on each side. Usually there is one that is diseased and surgically removed. If both are removed the ferret is often referred to as *bilateral.*
There is information on Addison's disease in the archives, I am sure. If you want to find it, you can search them and all the posts about them will appear. If you are generally interested in Addison's disease, you can find a lot in one of the medical search engines, such as Medline. If you are looking for general, ordinary people info, you could even try entering *Addison's* in the search window of Yahoo or dogpile.com searches. I have done this on occasion to get info for my patients and found that there is quite a lot out there.
Now, about Sammy. Sometimes after surgery a ferret may become depressed or take a while to get back to his old self. It is important for you to discover if there is a medical reason. You and your vet can work together here. Write down all the information you observe about him - times he eats, sleeps, plays, etc. so you can see patterns of behavior. Is he on any medicines? What does his bloodwork show? Any other problem going on like fleas or earmites? Talk to your vet. When talking to my patient's and their parents, sometimes *he's just not right* isn't very diagnostic, but it can alert me to look a little closer.
I hope you learn something soon. Let us know.
renee :)