From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2003-08-04 21:08:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] IT IS ADRENAL DISEASE ...
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <8319617.1060031280604.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Linda, these should reassure you if the case turns out to be adrenal neoplasia (in which case surgery by a knowledgeable ferret vet IS the best option for most ferrets -- but usually it is not a rush job) :
http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0304&L=ferret-search&P=R12326
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG569
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG5436
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG2068
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG1994
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG1100
Did you have those skin scrapings done? The description just doesn't fit well with how adrenal neoplasia tends to present. It still could be adrenal neoplasia but it sure would not hurt to make sure before going into surgery that it is not something like a fungal skin disease such as ring "worm".
If it is adrenal disease then do realize that while it is always scary for a ferret you love to undergo surgery the chances of dying from that surgery are low. The chances of having a second adrenal growth are low AND there is research into things that might reduce the risk of a second adrenal growth. (See above links for some of this.)
There is more good news in the links I have given and elsewhere.
We've had ferrets in the family for 21 years. We've never lost one in surgery, and we have only lost one soon after surgery and in her case she had hidden lymphoma which was all through her. She was also the only ferret our vet had ever lost soon after surgery and he has never lost a ferret during surgery.
Even many years ago the vets were telling us that in general their surgical risk for losing a ferret was around 10%, and that included harder surgeries than adrenal ones.
Can a ferret be lost? Yes. Is it the most likely outcome? Not by a wide margin for surgeries in general.
DO ask the vets their success rates, and remember that now-a-days a vet with a poor success rate is likely doing something avoidable like using the wrong types of anesthesia. Unlike the past there is information and there is help to improve their success rates now.