From:
kamccabe@optonline.net
Date: 2003-01-03 05:52:13 UTC
Subject: RE: Adrenal ferret not ready for surgery
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <28797150.1041574131902.JavaMail.nobody@chromium>
Hello Susan,
I am not a vet, but I have had quite a bit of experience with Adrenal
disease lately so I'll give you my two cents.
I do not understand why your vet feels that your Jack is not "ready for
surgery". He's showing symptoms and the U of Tenn Panel indicates
Adrenal disease. What more do you need?
In less than one year 7 of my 12 Ferrets have been diagnosed with
Adrenal disease. 6 have had surgery, the seventh goes for her surgery
on Tuesday. I've lost two because, in my opinion, the tumors were left
untreated for much too long. Both were already ill when they came to
me. The first never made it out of surgery....in addition to a right Adrenal
gland tumor that was 4 times normal size, additional tumors were also
found throughout his body and he just never woke up. He was with me
for only 8 months. The second had obvious symptoms (hair loss,
swollen vulva) when she came to me and had been diagnosed 6
months prior, but left untreated. She went to surgery, without any testing,
one week after coming to me. It was the left gland, biopsy showed it was
Malignant. Despite having had the entire gland removed the cancer had
spread. I lost her just before Christmas. She was with me for only 5
months. Had these two recieved treatment (ie; surgery) sooner I can't
help but feel their outcomes may have been different.
As for the rest, I've been lucky in that I've been catching them early. So
far all have been Benign. Their symptoms: slight agression in one,
sexual agression in two, excessive itching in one, and one had no
typical symptoms....he was the "favorite target", so to speak, of the two
showing sexual aggression so I had him tested (U of Tenn Panel) and
sure enough he was positive. For the record, only the one of my 7 had
hair loss.
I went with Ultrasound with the first and I agree with what you've been
told....Ultrasound is not a reliable tool when it comes to diagnosing
Adrenal disease. In my opinion, the test was a waste of money. The U of
Tenn made the final diagnoses.
Two of my seven had no testing, they went to surgery based on
symptoms alone. The other 5 were positively diagnosed with the U of
Tenn Panel. My vet did not need to see the size of the glands
beforehand. He went in based on symptoms and U of Tenn Panel
results and in every case the affected gland was very obvious during
surgery.
In my totally non professional opinion, if the Ferret is showing symptoms
and the U of Tenn Panel is positive there should be no need to wait for
surgery. The Ferret is "ready" now and the sooner the surgery is done
the better. If your vet is Ferret knowledgable and experienced I would
think the affected gland would be obvious during surgery. Please
DVM's, correct me if I am wrong!
Good luck to you and Jack!
Karen McCabe