From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2004-12-01 15:06:09 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] update on ferret with hind end weakness
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <20041201150609.73567.qmail@web50804.mail.yahoo.com>
Hi, Ann, and everyone else,
Your situation, or ones like it, are all too familiar.
I think our vet would, like yours, get the ferret
stronger so that she'd be a better surgical candidate.
He'd probably go after the pancreatic mass and
whichever adrenal gland is most urgent first, then let
her recover and rebuild her strength for six to eight
weeks, and then go after the second gland. When he
did the right he'd ligate the vena cava. I've had one
ferret, Lady Ayeka, go through combined
insulinoma/adrenal surgery like that (left gland) and
she came through with flying colors. I've had three
ferrets have their right gland removed with vena cava
ligation and all came through just fine. Podo was
seven and a half when he had his right out and
lived to be just about 10.
The reason for separating the two surgeries is that
the combined surgery is rough enough on the ferrets
and when our vet did bilateral adrenal surgery and
possibly insulunoma surgery all at once his success
rate dropped. It was just too much for some ferrets.
When the second adrenal gland comes out that will be
an even rougher recovery. If the starting dosage of
medications to replace the missing adrenal products
the ferret will start showing symptoms of surgically
induced Addison's Disease. We had that with both
Pertwee and Ryo-Ohki. Once the medications were right
and their electrolytew were in balance and,
in Pertwee's case, another medical issue was dealt
with, they rallied.
Make sure you educate yourself about Addison's after
bilateral adrenalectomies and expecially about how to
recognize an Addisonian Crisis, which is life
threatening. The archives have tons of great
material. You can find them at
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
I wish you and your little one the best of luck.
Pertwee lived for almost four years with no adrenal
glands and was our most crazy, frenetic, and
absolutely wired weasel pretty much that whole time.
The usual disclaimer applies: I am not a vet. I just
have been where you are now.
All the best,
Caity and the fantastic four
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