SWOLLEN FEMALE PARTS

Question

Smokey napping   QUESTION: Hello, I have a female ferret about 3 years old (Smokey). I noticed this evening that here female parts were red and appear to be swollen. Do you think this could be a irritation or something else? She is behaving normal, playing, eating and using the bathroom as normal. She is a Marshall Farms ferret and has been fixed. The only other thing I can think of is my son said she licked the liquid hand soap in the bathroom yesterday. He said that he took it away from her as soon as she started licking it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

ANSWER: Hi Greg:

It's good that you are observant!  It sounds like your little girl has adrenal disease. Swollen red vulva is a very strong indication of adrenal gland disease. Adrenal disease won't kill her today of tomorrow, rather it is a disease of wasting away. Her muscles will waste and you will notice her appearing skinnier with a pot belly tummy, thinner fur, maybe even some bald patches, increased - sometimes unbearable scratching and even open sores that are very painful. They just continue to deterioriate until the adrenal tumors grow large enough that eventually the ferret dies. This is usually a year or so after you first notice the first symptoms, so you have time to think this through and make some decisions.

A ferret's normal life span is 6-7 years, so it would seem that she could still have quite some good years with you post adrenal surgery. The average age for ferrets to get adrenal tumors is about 2 to 3 years of age. Surgery to remove the tumors is a total CURE for the disease, so there is no after affects - the ferret regrows fur again and regains full health for the remainder of her life. Cost of surgery can run anywhere from $200 to $1,000 depending on where you live and the vet you choose, so it's worth it to take time to call around and compare prices, check out vets, etc.  Be sure when you call you are 'comparing apples with apples' so to say.  You will want to ask something like this: "what would be the average cost of a left sided adrenal gland removal with no complications?"   Sometimes the disease can affect both glands (more expensive) or it can affect the right gland, which is entangled with the aorta, which is a much more complicated surgery; but for now, compare apples with apples.

Then you will want to ask if the vet does a lot of adrenal surgeries -- you want a vet with a lot of experience; and you want a vet who will let you reconnect with your ferret as soon as she wakes up - your voice should be the first one she hears. That is proven to help them come around better and have a much better outcome from the surgery. You will want to swaddle her, rock her and talk quietly to her while she is waking up. Then feed her a little Hill's A/D warmed and some water and if that stays down, she goes home!  It's that simple. She will need to stay in a "hospital cage" for a few days by herself, which is all on one level, has newspapers instead of a litterbox to drag herself in and out of for cleanliness sake on the wound, and you will probably feed her some A/D "soup" to help her get her appetite back. Again, lots of rocking and sweet talking will help her heal faster. The first day or two is a little rough, but after that, it's hard to keep them down.   

Adrenal surgery is VERY common and very successful and CURES adrenal disease, so it's really the only way to go.  Here is a link that will tell you more about adrenal disease:

ADRENAL DISEASE:
* http://www.petcarevabeach.com/adr.htm

I am also going to give you some lists of ferret vets suggested by other ferret owners. Hopefully there will be one or more in your area. If not, it's worth it to travel to get to a good one. I used to travel almost five hours to get to a really good one when my kids needed surgery. Many ferret owners do, unfortunately. It's imperative to use an 'exotics' vet that specializes in ferrets, as a regular dog and cat vet just isn't good for surgical purposes. Here's that list:

VETS USA:
* http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
* http://www.ferret-universe.com/vets/vetlist.asp
* http://www.ferretsanctuary.com/vets.shtml
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/

Best ofluck to you - first things first, get that vet whose cost is acceptable or who will accept payments.  In the meantime, there is really nothing you can do to help her as far as making her more comfortable. As her symptoms get worse and worse, the scratching will get really bad and she can even scratch scabs in her hairless skin - it can get pretty ugly. I hope you can find help long before then. My thoughts and prayers go with you. If I can help in any way, please don't hesitate to write again.

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: HELLO, I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THE VET SAID SHE HAD A INFECTION. HE PUT HER ON ANTIBIOTICS THIS MORNING AND THE SWELLING IS GOING DOWN. THANK YOU AGAIN.

Answer
AWESOME!  Can't imagine how she got an infection there, but that's okay, we'll take that!  Thanks so much for the picture - she's toooo precious!! :-)   Thanks so much for taking time to write back and let me know that she's going to do okay and sending the pic - that made my day!

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers