Hi; I am hoping someone will point me in the right direction.  My ferret is
a bit over 7 1/2 years old and had adrenal surgery at the end of February.
She recovered wonderfully and seems to be doing well...however, I have some
concerns.  She was showing some hind end weakness at the end of last year,
for which I took her to see Dr. Weiss.  She was tested for insulinoma and
it came back negative.  She had been on Lupron, but I opted to have her
operated on.  Dr. Weiss reported that aside from the tumor he removed, she
looked good.
 
She bounced back quickly, but the hind end weakness is not going away, in
fact, since then it has gotten much worse.  Her back legs splay out (like a
split) when she is on a smooth surface.  They also tend to buckle and stick
out straight rather than bend at the ankle, and so she ends up tripping
over them or just dragging herself around until she gets back up on them
again.  They do not seem to hurt her and her movement is not terrible
impeded, but my concern is that this is getting worse, not better.  Could
her legs have atrophied from when I kept her confined after surgery, or
could this be something else?  Or could it be old age?  She will be 8 in
September.
 
Also, not all of her adrenal symptoms have vanished.  She is not swollen,
but she gets a discharge.  Her fur seems a bit thin on her rump, and on the
bottoms of her feet.
 
Her appetite is great, and she has perked up since the surgery...
unfortunately, with this leg problem she is having a hard time getting
around.  I take her out for exercise, and she tries to crawl up my leg to
be picked up.  I don't know whether I should be carrying her around, or
trying to get her to walk more, or if I need to take her to the vet again.
Her appetite is great, and she seems happy...just wobbly on her weak legs.
 
Thanks for any insight you can give me.
 
Ann
[Posted in FML issue 3046]