From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2002-07-26 03:08:59 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Question: On Age and Surgery
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Cc: selenemoonwolfe@yahoo.com
Message-Id: <20020725230859.15c5ae7a.whiteweasel@earthlink.net>
Hi, Jenn,
> I wanted to know if 8 years old is to old to have adrenal surgery. One
> of my girls is doing the up and swollen vulva thing.
Whether or not eight is too old for her depends on a number of factors.
Does she have any other health problems? Is she otherwise strong? In
your position I'd go with what my vet advises after a thorough checkup.
At (approximately) age seven and a half Podo had right adrenal surgery
including vena cava ligation -- a difficult surgery at any age. He
recovered faster than any other ferret of mine from *any* adrenal
surgery.
Today, less than four months later, Podo had surgery for insulinoma
(which wasn't evident when the adrenal surgery was done). Our vet found
one very large tumor and removed about half of Podo's pancreas. Podo
woke up and everything looked very good indeed. Then he went into
cardiac arrest. Our vet still doesn't know why. His age was probably
contributing factor.
The good news is that Podo was revived in about two minutes. Our vet
was originally quite pessimistic, but Podo seems to be making a rather
remarkable recovery. When I left him around eight tonight Podo had
given me kisses on the hand when I had stroked him. Right now both our
regular vet and the emergency vet feel he has an excellent chance at
making a full recovery. Only time will tell.
> I was just
> curious about her age and risks for surgery.
My understanding is that the older a ferret is the greater the risk.
OTOH, when I looked for advice on list here Dr. Williams posted that I
should go by the condition of the ferret and not chronological age.
Podo seemed strong, and both our regular vet and the one I went to for a
second opinion advised that surgery was his best option.
Podo is just about eight. He nearly died. OTOH, if there is no brain
damage and he does recover fully, he may well have a much longer life
and a better quality of life than he would have had without surgery.
Did I make the right decision? I don't know. The experts told me this
was the thing to do. They may all still be proven right.
If you trust your vet fully, take his or her advice. Don't be afraid to
go for a second opinion.
All the best,
Caity and the worried eight, all waiting for Podo