From:
Linda Iroff
Date: 2004-01-30 20:25:48 UTC
Subject: Re: what causes adrenal gland disease?
To: Ferret Health List <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-id: <7DC27157-5362-11D8-A9BF-000393850644@oberlin.edu>
Dr Murray writes
> When ferrets are spayed or neutered
> (as neonates by all of the major ferret farms) then the
> adrenal glands start to respond to the high levels of LH
> in the bloodstream.
I'm convinced that it is not the "early" neutering alone, if by early
you mean 5-6 weeks. This is NOT only a farm ferret problem.
I have owned 6 personal ferrets, all neutered at 5.5 to 8 MONTHS old.
Five have had adrenal disease so far, with symptoms starting as early
as 2 1/2 years old. One of those is a female that even went through a
heat cycle before spaying! Cassie had her left adrenal removed a couple
months ago, and the right was slightly enlarged. So far her litter mate
Andi is symptom free; they just turned 3 years old.
Linda Iroff
Oberlin OH