From:
"Dan Muldoon"
Date: 2004-06-30 16:28:50 UTC
Subject: Return of adrenal symptoms after bilateral with Addisonian
To: "Ferret Health List" <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-Id: <200406301628.LAA08355@Bluejay.creighton.edu>
Last year, my dark sable girl, Natasha, developed classic adrenal symptoms
of hair loss over most of her body, accompanied by an enlarged vulva. I'm
trying to reconcile a post-surgical Addisonian crash with the return of
adrenal symptoms a few months later. The following is a chronology of
events:
Late Sept. 2003 At 2 y/o, Had bilateral adrenalectomy that required
removing a small piece of the liver that was enmeshed in tumor. About two
days later crashed with Addisonian symptoms and rushed her to clinic. Blood
tests showed both low electrolytes and low glucose. Recovered with Percortin
treatment at clinic; when she started "coming back," the first thing she did
was crawl over to my hand.
Oct. 2003 Vulva receded to normal size. Fur started growing back, first
appeared along incision site. Over the next month, developed thin coat over
body. Electrolytes normal. BG in 80s with PediaPred treatmt. Returned to
normal self; during follow-up tests, the vet remarked, "she's running around
here [the exam room] like a wild woman!" :-)
Jan. 2004 Started losing fur again (her tail hair never regrew).
Mar. 2004 Tail and rump completely bald again. Received four-month Lupron
depot and a melatonin implant. Vulva has remained normal all this time.
Apr.-June 2004 Re-grew fur very slowly. Was nearly a month before it started
to show again. By mid-June she had a pretty normal coat over body; her tail
fur was back in all except in one small area proximal to the tip. She can
even "bottle brush." On a couple of occasions I even did double-takes,
mistaking her briefly for her sable male cagemate.
Late June 2004 Has started losing a bit of her fur regrowth.
Early July 2004 Will receive next Lupron depot.
My question is: Could remaining tissue (right after the surgery) be unable
to produce sufficient mineralcorticoids to maintain electrolyte balance, and
then come back like this? I'm considering whether it'd be beneficial to go
in for another surgery, but wonder what if the tumor isn't in the normal
spot.
Dan