My Wanda is having adrenal surgery in two weeks.  The vet that is
performing the surgery is very knowledgable but does not have the
equipment to do cryosurgery which is alright with me.
 
I have two questions.  One, my vet said if the right adrenal is the one
that is affected he could remove part of the vena cava with the adrenal
gland.  I was wondering what people's experience with that type of
procedure is.  I am a little apprehensive about that even though the vet
said there is a low mortality rate.
 
The second question is what type of extra care do I need to give her after
the surgery?  This is my first ferret to go through surgery so I am a
little nervous.  Also, my other ferret Mulberry has been playing 'flat
ferret' alot more than usual.  He is still active and eats normal but tends
to lay down more and just stare.  I was wondering if that could be the
beginning of insulinoma.  He hasn't shown any other signs.  It seems like
my ferrets keep getting sick.  Chili was recently diagnosed with gastritis
due to helicobacter mustelae bacteria.  The vet ran all sorts of tests:
xray, barium and bloodwork and believes he had a hairball that was rubbing
against his stomach.  I had him on Biaxin and Tagamet for ten days and lots
of hairball medication and he seems to be better.  No more grinding of the
teeth and more active.
 
Sorry this is so long.  Thank you for any information that can given.
 
Sincerely, Jaki and the fabulous four: Chili, Mulberry, Wanda and Zoe
[Posted in FML issue 3009]