From:
"Roger Vaughn"
Date: 2003-08-04 17:20:28 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] IT IS ADRENAL DISEASE ...
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <24080.161.254.5.251.1060017628.squirrel@mail.seaconinc.com>
> When your ferret get sick at 2 years old.... it's hard.. and when
> it's your best friend...
Linda,
You're right, it is hard. You just want the best for Cookie, but part
of doing what's best is staying calm and making a rational decision.
Adrenal disease is a "tumor", but it's not (rarely anyway) a "cancer".
It grows very slowly and doesn't affect other organs. If left
untreated for a long time (we're talking months to years here), it
could start growing into neighboring organs, but it's not going to
just take over like some cancers do.
I know Cookie looks bad with his fur falling out, but it's not as bad
as it seems, really. He's just got too many hormones in his blood,
that's all. It makes weird things like hair loss happen, but it's not
going to hurt him itself.
In making a choice, what you want to do is ask how many *ferret
adrenal surgeries* each vet has done, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, ask what
their *success/recovery rate* is. You want the one who has the most
successes - and therefore the best chance for Cookie's recovery. If
that happens to be the one who is on vacation, then by all means, wait
the three weeks. As long as Cookie is still able to urinate, he will
be just fine for even longer than that. Sending him to an
inexperienced surgeon *today* will lower his chance for recovery, and
will make his recovery longer and more painful.
roger