From:
Melissa
Date: 2003-01-03 15:03:10 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] RE: Adrenal ferret not ready for surgery
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <20030103150310.63027.qmail@web14403.mail.yahoo.com>
--- kamccabe@optonline.net wrote:
> Hello Susan,>
> 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?
Dear Kamccabe, and Susan:
The reason that some vets wish to wait is that if they
go in too soon, they may not be able to tell which
gland to remove. Then you have the problem of having
either to (1) do nothing, and waste the
putting-under-and-incision, or (2) guess as to which
gland should be removed. If the vet guesses, they
usually take the left adrenal, which is statistically
the more-often-affected gland. That's fine most of
the time, but if they guess wrong, the ferret has been
subjected to an unnecessary surgery - which is *not*
something to be dismissed lightly - and then has to
have the other adrenal gland removed in a second
surgery, which can result in further medical problems
that require long term treatment (Addison's disorder).
The determination, then, as to when surgery should be
scheduled, depends on the individual ferret.
In my opinion, if the ultrasound does not indicate
that one gland is more enlarged than the other, and it
has just been a couple of months since the onset of
symptoms, waiting is an acceptable option. Each
surgical procedure inflicted on a ferret, in my
experience, is difficult and draining for them, and
there comes a point at which I feel it is not right to
continue to subject them to surgery. Therefore, there
are good and valid reasons to try to maximize the
potential effectiveness of each procedure.
Unfortunately, sometimes no matter what your
motivations are, you guess wrong. It seems like
sometimes you can't win for losing with these guys.
Best Wishes to all,
Melissa
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