From:
"April Armstrong Campbell"
Date: 2006-01-11 07:45:24 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] life expectancy, etc for ferrets with both adrenals out-your experiences
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Hi, guys. I am sort of taking a survey as to people's experiences with ferrets who have had both adrenal glands out. I am looking for:
Ages and sexes of the ferrets. Are they still alive? How long have they/did they live after the second gland was removed?
Were the glands removed at separate times? If so, how far apart? What was the extent of their symptoms? What symptoms did they have (how did you know/suspect they were adrenal)-what tests, if any, were run?
Were biopsies done to learn what kinds of tumors were removed? If so, what were they determined to be?
What sort of post-op care and medical management (i.e. use of medications like fludrocortisone/Florinef, prednisone, pepcid, Imuran, sucralfate, etc) was used?
Did any of the ferrets in question develop GI problems peri or postoperatively? Specifically, I am wondering about ulcers, but any GI issues interest me. When did symptoms of such, if any, occur? Has anyone experienced leanring about any ulcers on necropsy (versus actually having seen symptoms of an ulcer prior to death). (I personally have had two bilaterally adrenal ferrets, one who had both removed at once-he had evidence of a GI ulcer at necropsy-probably died of an Addisonian crisis; and I had one with the glands removed about 5 months apart who died almost a year after the first surgery of a perforated, asymptomatic up to that point, GI ulcer.)
Any other info about your experiences with your bilaterally adrenal ferrets would be welcome, in particular the GI/ulcer issues-if anyone wanted to share medical records and lab results with me, that'd be great. Right now this is a personal interest as I approach my third bilaterally adrenal ferret in a year, and I am learning more about the issues, etc. It may turn into a more involved project someday. I have recently heard info about using Imuran postop in bilaterally adrenal ferrets, too.
Experiences the vets here have had would be fabulous, but I am also looking for the lay person's experiences as well.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Best,
April Armstrong Campbell and Daisy
PS It was my Cora who passed away unexpectedly in November of the perforated ulcer-she was totally asymptomatic until the day I rushed her to the emergency clinic in the middle of the night; she was dead about 36 hours later. She had never had an Addisonian crisis and was put on pred and fludrocortisone a few times when boarding or being introduced to my newer ferrets last spring, but otherwise was off medical therapy except when she was placed into those kinds of different or potentially stressful circumstances and did quite well."
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