From:
Lccmtaylor@aol.com
Date: 2002-03-01 00:23:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Adrenal diagnosis/Ultrasound questions
Hi Vicky:
I AM NOT A VET. I'm just somebody whose been where you are with Knucklehead.
Sundance is a recovered diabetic with adrenal. My vet, who claims to be and
has been recognized as a ferret expert, can feel something she suspects is
probably an adrenal tumor but may be pancreatic. I mentioned ultrasound and
she said she could do and would do it but doesn't think much of it in the
diagnosis of adrenal. In her opinion often the tumors are too small to see
and you get a false negative. Her method, for non-surgical candidates, is to
give a one month dose of Lupron to ferrets that are truly symptomatic of
Adrenal and see if she gets any positive response. If so, then she
reconsiders surgery - not an option for Sundance, or the four month Lupron.
I guess if she was dealing with a younger, healthier ferret, she might be
more aggressive with blood work and surgery, but for non-surgical candidates
the Lupron will not hurt them if they're not adrenal. And lets face it,
adrenal is so prevalent, if it looks like adrenal it probably is.
Good Luck with both Knucklehead and Thomas. They're in our prayers.
Cay, Princess and the naughty boys