From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2004-02-20 18:45:40 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] adrenal recurrence
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-Id: <20040220134540.04db6c87@nyssa.mizuhoradio.com>
On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 12:43:08 EST
WOLFYSLUV@aol.com wrote:
> I was wondering what theories people had concerning adrenal disease
> recurrence in the remaining gland after surgery? Some people have had
> such extraordinary results.
Here is our experience -- which is mostly good:
Ker Avon - left adrenal surgery at age 1.5, no recurrence during his life. He died of lymphosarcoma at age 5.5, so there were four good years after surgery.
Pertwee - left adrenal surgery at age 1.5, right adrenal surgery at 2, lived without adrenal glands for 3.5 years and was fine
Ryo Ohki - left adrenal surgery at age 2, right adrenal surgery at age 3, died from metastasis or adrenal carcinoma at age 3.5
Nyssa - left adrenal surgery at age 3. She's 5.5 now. No recurrence.
Romana - left adrenal surgery at age 3. She's 5 now. No recurrence.
Podo - right adrenal surgery at age 7.5. He's 9 now. No recurrence.
Four out of six had adrenal surgeries at very different ages and had no further problems.
I personally believe not doing adrenal surgery in a ferret who is otherwise strong, healthy, and a good surgical candidate is nothing short of cruel. In most cases the surgery is a cure. I also have seen that recover from a second adrenal surgery can be very difficult on both the ferret and owner, so unless both glands are clearly affected I really don't believe in taking out both.
FWIW, my opinions are pretty much based on my own experience and what I learned from our vet.
Breeding? Ryo and Avon were from Marshall Farms. So are Tenchi (age six), Adric (five and a half), and Lady Ayeka (five and a half) and they have never had the disease. Nyssa came from Animals Exotique (no longer breeding), and Pertwee and Romana were Triple F babies. Podo was bred in a university lab and was not altered until sexually mature. He still got adrenal disease. Kodo, his brother, hasn't had adrenal so far and he's nine.
> Or is it completely random like the roll of dice.
I'm beginning to believe this is the case. I realize our sample is terribly small, but from talking to many, many ferret owners I can see no pattern in which get adrenal disease and which don't.
Prevention? Just do all we can to keep them healthy. A high quality diet, real darkness at night, plenty of exercise, and lots of love and attention are the things we try to do.
All the best,
Caity and the seven wonder weasels