From:
tpettis@uoguelph.ca
Date: 2005-02-10 14:21:33 UTC
Subject: Adrenal advice
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <4422419.1108045293906.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
Hi Everyone,
Well all the advice on tooth brushing went great, thanks everybody! Everybo=
dy's teeth and gums look MUCH better with just brushing, didn't even need t=
he scaler. They'll be fine until the summer, well they'll have to be anyway=
s. =
The problem I'm writing to you today about is with my ferret Felix. Since =
the fall we've noticed he has been a little on the skinny side, but his wei=
ght has always been kinda up and down so we didn't think much of it. In Ja=
nuary, after we got back from a 10 day trip to my parents' we noticed he'd =
lost quite a bit more weight, we thought we'd wait and see if he'd put it b=
ack on , thinking that he'd lost it because of stress from us being gone. =
Well the good news is he hasn't lost a whole lot more, but the bad news is =
he hasn't gained any either. Then about two weeks ago we noticed his hair =
starting to fall out. We wondered about an early coat blow, but were begin=
ning to worry about adrenal. I decided to start him on some chicken baby f=
ood to get his weight up, he eats a half jar a day and has put on a little,=
but it's all in the tummy, so I don't know if that's actual weight gain or=
him turning pearshaped. As of now if you pinch a section of his fur it wi=
ll come out with almost no pressure, he doesn't have any bald spots yet, bu=
t he's lost almost all of his top coat and is now a funny shade of creamy b=
rown, he's usually a fairly dark sable. He has also started to smell more =
strongly, he is a MF and of course descented, but his skin is starting to s=
mell more like our privately bred still scented Pippin. He's always been a=
little lazy, so his activity level is about normal. I called a vet friend=
of mine and he said he'd think of doing the surgery at a discount, as his =
house needs reshingling and John is rather handy at that stuff. The only p=
roblem with having him do the surgery is he's about an hour and a half out =
of town, and as such isn't our regular vet. =
I called my regular vet to ask some advice and she had, what I thought were=
, different ideas about adrenal surgery. =
First off she insisted on doing a Tennessee panel, she said she wouldn't wa=
nt to open him up unless it was done. She also suggested CBC, which I agre=
ed with. The problem I have with the Tenn panel is that paying for that wil=
l limit the amount of money we have to pay for the surgery and any post op =
complications. She was pretty insistant on it though... =
Then she said that she only does surgery after 3 months of Lupron (1mo depo=
ts), because it helps regress some of the symptoms and promote healing. Th=
is struck me as an odd suggestion for Felix because he is not yet showing d=
ramatic symptoms, and wouldn't it be better to open him and get the adrenal=
s out rather than waiting a few months for them to grow and possibly compro=
mise other tissues?
She also said that she only does surgery if ultrasound shows it's needed...=
I was under the impression, from readings of various sources, that ultras=
ound is not a very reliable means of diagnosis adrenal tumours.
Now of course I'm confused. I had the impression that with adrenal it's be=
tter to look at the symptoms and operate rather than spend time doing tests=
and other treatments that don't actually cure the disease? I really like =
my vet, but she seems more interested in getting us to spend money on tests=
than trying to cure the problem. I'm not unwilling to perform the tests i=
f they will be of value but I don't see the point in paying for ultrasound =
or Tenn panel if he's showing fairly clear symptoms. =
I also asked about melatonin implants and she said she'd look into them for=
me, but hasn't gotten back to me yet. When she does we'll get both boys i=
mplanted to hopefully keep Pippin from devo'ing the disease.
I guess my questions are how much pre-op testing needs to be done before su=
rgery? I was hoping to talk with my friend and see if he could fit him in =
in two weeks (reading week for me). Is that too soon or should we wait for=
more definite symptoms? Felix has also had some loose stools lately, norm=
al colour but poorly formed, I was assuming it's from the baby food, but th=
e vet didnt' seem to agree. Should I take him off the baby food and see if=
they clear up? I was hoping the baby food would get his weight up a littl=
e so when surgery is done he'll be more fit. Am I feeding him too much bab=
y food maybe? He is still eating his kibble along with the baby food. Sho=
uld we make him a check up appointment, get his CBC done and also put him o=
n amoxi and metronidazole for a week or two before surger to see if it clea=
rs up his diarhea? (Vet suggested that) The only problem I have is that la=
st year (summer'03) he was put on metronidazole and it was so stressful for=
him to take she eventually told us to stop giving it to him... Would it h=
elp now? Also does he need to be put under for a blood sample big enough t=
o do a CBC? She said it's normal practice, but I thought I remembered some=
people on this list saying their vets do it without anaesthetic.
Thanks for any advice given! Sorry for the long post
Terri, John, Pippin, Felix and Hades
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