From:
"Joanne D'Amico-Ritter"
Date: 2008-10-11 16:10:55 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] RE: Adrenal Surgery
To: "FHL" <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
I agree that adrenal surgery does not always solve the problem. I have had several ferrets, one as young as 11 months old that needed bilateral adrenalectomies. The adrenal on the right had grown up into the lower lobe of the liver, and into the vena cava. Surgery and recovery were extensive, but he survived and went on to become my all-time favorite, with only one Adisonian crisis during the next 5.5 years. However, I have lost two within 2 years of bilateral surgery when a crisis was precipitated by death of a bonded mate - and all the vet care and meds and love and care did not help.
Also note that Dr. Ruth mentioned "if all the adrenal tissue is removed". However, sometimes there is the issue of small bits of ectopic (not in the gland) adrenal tissue remaining - in this case, they continued to have thinning coats and other issues despite meds including lupron and melatonin implants. Of course, being ferrets, this did not affect their zest for life, or impair their ability to get into mischief
Right now I have 2 boys, Ramses & Harley. Ramses was only 12 mos. old when I adopted him. He exhibited signs of severe aggression with a thick lush coat. His hormone levels were very high, so I opted for surgery - both adrenals were very enlarged, and were removed. He is now on flurinef, prednisolone, lupron and melatonin. His aggression has gone, but so has his big bulky musculature and lush coat. Harley, who is almost five, started to blow his coat. He was checked, is also adrenal, but because his case was "milder", and he started rather late, I opted just to put him on melatonin and lupron. At one time I always opted for surgery, but because of the mixed results, I decided to be more conservative. His coat is lush, his musculature has improved, and his activity level is way up. They are both wicked little dickens, and that's the way I like them.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/