From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2004-10-11 23:13:11 UTC
Subject: RE: Advice needed
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <5682777.1097536391208.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
In 23 years we've had something like a third of our ferrets wind up with adrenal growths.
Only one in the 23 years had fur loss that appeared to be perhaps age related, perhaps related to her poor health. Remember that we have a strong history of having necropsies done so that allows for finding cases which were not suspected. That one who had balding but did not have adrenal disease had serious heat disease and her balding pattern was not strongly bilateral as is seen with adrenal disease. We have actually had more with hidden adreanl growths which had not produced symptoms and those growths were found on necropsy with pathology.
The only way to know for sure if there is adrenal disease is to go in and then have pathology done on the tissues. The TN Panel does miss some; we've been there, but Steve and I still consider it a useful tool when there is not a clear indication one way or the other.