ADRENAL SURGERY

Question
Hello,
I have a female ferret that is 4+ years old. I only feed her Shepard and Green adult ferret food. She poops several times a day and it's always a greenish brown color. She is active and loves to play with my son and puppy. She is not showing any hair loss but with all this talk about adrenal disease and and it being so common in the USA, I would like you to help me find a vet in advance who treats ferrets and does adrenal surgery. I have only had her for 2 months and was purchased from someone else who couldn't keep her in their new apartment. I was unable to get her medical records which is why I need your help. I want to have it lined up and ready to go so I am not wasting time later. I live is Midvale, UT 84047.
Thanks
Irene

Answer
Hi Irene:

I'm so glad you're consciencious about getting a vet for your ferret, but let me assure you - if your ferret does start to show signs of adrenal disease, sometimes it's best not to run to surgery immediately. I did that, thinking it was the best for the ferret, only to find out that the gland had not swollen enough to even be able to be located by the vet!  You see, the 'normal' size of an adrenal gland is only about the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. You have at  least a few months to safely locate an acceptable vet and arrange surgery to remove the offending gland. In my ferret's situation, I was especially concerned because his symptoms had come on so very rapidly. However, he was in surgery within weeks after the first symptoms were visible and the gland could not be found.  So, the next option available was to put him on Lupron injections, which I now have done.  But I just wanted to share that with you so you don't rush in tooo early and possibly pay for a surgery that accomplishes nothing.  An adrenal tumor doesn't usually cause concern about spreading until at least six months after it first appears (there are, of course, exceptions). Adrenal tumors also are not terminal as long as they are removed by a competent vet.

The first symptoms you will want to be looking for will probably be fur loss - generally bilaterally even anywhere on both sides of the ferret's body; difficulty urinating in males; swelling of the vulva in females.  Here are the lists of vets in the United States compiled by other ferret owners. Click on each one separately, find your state, then scroll down to your specific city:

* 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/

I certainly hope that adrenal disease doesn't happen to your ferret. In actuality I think intestinal blockages are far more common and more commonly fatal. I hope you will also learn about those - not to frighten you, but so that you can be prepared, have your home ferretproofed and your ferret treated regularly to prevent the possibility of blockages. We also have lots of cardiomyopathy in overweight ferrets, and insulinoma in pets who eat people food or food that has sugar in it; Insulinoma can somewhat be prevented by feeding only meaty treats without sugar and only the top ferret-specific foods that are meat based such as Totally Ferret and NO 'people' foods except meat.  You can read lots more about ferrets in the book FERRETS FOR DUMMIES by Kim Schilling OR you can read also at http://www.ferretcentral.org and scroll down to the topic/s that interest you.

For a ferret's all-around safety, it's important to ferretproof your home, give your ferret lots of daily one-on-one attention (at least 3 hrs a day EVERY DAY), keep your ferret mentally stimulated, and safe. Adrenal Disease is only one very small area that takes our precious pets from us. I have not had a ferret die of Adrenal Disease yet; but three of mine have had surgery for it then went on to live perfectly normal lives. It's the "other" stuff that ends up killing them - please do lots of reading and familiarize yourself with all the dangers that our babies face on a daily basis right here in our homes.  There ARE things we CAN do to make them safe; and the happier our ferrets are, the more likely they will live longer too!

Best of luck for a long and happy life with your little one!

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers