From:
"Debbie Ramsey Boz"
Date: 2010-03-16 18:31:03 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Blood tests say Adrenal, Help please
To: <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
Hi Folks,
I have been reading as much as I can on adrenal decease.
I have a rescue ferret named "Slinky" he is about 3 -4 years old, Slinky has
been healthy up till now. He is at a good weight and eats well. He is a
small ferret. He has been itching and losing a small amount of hair on his
neck. This started about 3 months ago.
I took him into the vets office and for the first time that I noticed he was
doing little drips of urine after an initial pee. The vet told me that that
along with the itching suggested adrenal decease. She said his prostate
gland could be cutting off his ability to pee..
So, she gave him a shot of?? (It is about $98 a month) and I also ordered a
blood test to check his hormone levels ($200) She had said if he showed
signs of getting better with the shot (I am guessing itching less and peeing
better) that that could be the test as well, I decided to go ahead and get
the blood test to be sure.
The blood test came back and the 3 hormone levels were all high, two of them
pretty high and one not a lot high but higher than normal.
Here is my question: please help me with making a decision, I am coming to
you (this group) as I have seen by being a member for well over a year that
you ALL really care and that many of you are very well informed and have
experience with making these type of decisions.
My two choices are:
1) Start him on Desllrelin implant (less expensive than the monthly
shot) and then watch for the symptoms to eventually get worse meaning his
adrenal problem has gotten worse and then do surgery to remove the adrenal
gland(s).
2) Get surgery now and remove the adrenal gland(s)
So, if I go with #1 then am I risking that his problem as of now could be
just a tumor and that with waiting it could become cancerous and/or IF it is
cancerous now of him developing a secondary cancer?
If I go with #2 am I unnecessarily Putting him through a surgery AND what
happens when he no longer has his adrenal glands, does he have to take meds
the rest of his life to balance his metabolism?
So, now there is another question, should I do an ultrasound to see what is
happening inside or is that an unnecessary (and costly) procedure that will
only result in one of the above choices anyway..
Please help, also, I did try the fact page with the group and unfortunately
I could not figure out how to get these questions answered.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Debbie Ramsey
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