From:
amy.seyler@verizon.net
Date: 2004-06-19 22:02:51 UTC
Subject: Re: obese ferret
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <2625982.1087682571805.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
I will definitely bring this up -- my first thought was heart but my second thought was adrenal! But again, he shows no symptoms of adrenal disease either -- no hair loss or aggressive behavior.
You guys have all made great suggestions and I will discuss them with my vet. I'll keep everyone posted -- this will be great info for the archives. (Which is where I went first when this came up, but couldn't find much!)
Author wrote:
> Hi Amy,
> If the bloodwork + x-rays were normal then the next step
> is to ultrasound the heart. Some cases of heart disease
> do not show up on the x-ray, so ultrasound is needed!
> Hypothyroidism in a ferret would be very, very rare.
> Also some cases of adrenal gland disease may become
> obese if they are overproducing cortisol. Remember this only
> happens in roughly 5% of the adrenal cases.
> Hope that helps,
> Jerry Murray, DVM