From:
Karen Douglas
Date: 2002-03-03 17:52:00 UTC
Subject: Bi-lateral Adrenal questions
Hey Hey Hey,
Well, here I am again in search of medical answers for
my business of ferrets. I have 3 ferrets currently on
melatonin therapy for adrenal symptoms. One of the
ferrets is Rinkydink who has Eosiniphilic Entreitis and
I will not do anything to aggravate her immune system so
she is not a surgical candadate.
The other two ferrets have both had one adreanal
surgery. Blaze is a small male who's age is unknown as
he is a rescue. We believe him to be approx 4 to 5
years old. He had adreanal surgery last spring when a
right adrenal gland was removed and he had a vena cava
ligation. He has still not grown all of his hair back,
altho he has grown some since starting the melatonin
therapy. The hair on his belly is thin and his butt is
still bald. He is somewhat aggressive to other ferrets.
Sassafrass is a small female who is also a rescue. We
beleive her to be approx 5 to 6 years old. She had
adreanal surgery about 4 months ago. She was very thin
on hair when she went in and had a swollen vulva and her
litttle nips stood out. She had a left adrenal removed
and the right adrenal as well as the pancreas was
debulked. The pathology showed the right to be cancer
but a kind that does not mestastisize except on RARE
occasions. After her surgey her vulva went down
immediately. A week later it was swollen again. I
started her on melatonin therapy 2 months ago. This
past week her vulva has gone down signifigantly and she
has fuzz along her sides and some hair comming in on her
belly. Her little nips still stand out and she is still
very thin of hair.
My concern is having a ferret go into an Addisonian
crisis. I live 3 hours away from the closest (good)
emergency vet for ferrets and 1 and 1/2 hours away from
our regular ferret vet.
I am also worried about quality of life for bilateral
ferrets. I have known of some that never adjusted to
the meds and were miserable until they passed. I have
also known of some successes. I promised a friend I
would gather more information before ruling out making
these ferrets bilateral. I am looking for any and all
information you can share with me, so I can make a
quality descision. One that is best for my ferrets.
Thank you,
HappyTails,
Karen and the Scruff You Gang
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