Guess I just could not resist being the first to mention the Golden Ferret
Award.  I saw it last night on TV.  It's a sports award, apparently given
in fun, for both good and bad sports performance--or maybe just good.  I
did see Tiger Woods receive the award and, after raising it high in
appreciation, plant a loving kiss on it's little furry cheek.  It is a
stuffed toy ferret mounted on a base which has spaces for the winners'
names.  Undoubtedly we will see numerous posts of others who have seen
this amusing and gratifying (to ferret lovers) ceremony.
 
I was interested to read about the many people who elect to do nothing
about adrenal disease.  This disturbs me since I love ferrets so much and,
having run a shelter for 10 years, seek to do all I can to improve their
health, wellbeing and lifespan.  Once impacted with the disease, truly
life is never the same for the ferret.  Many other things seem to go
wrong; often insulinoma, prostatic cysts (please don't ignore urinary
dribbling--that is often the first sign of prostatic cyst) and other
tumors.  In doing adrenal tumor surgery, we have frequently encountered
other problems which we were able to correct, and which certainly extended
the happy life of the ferret (other tumors, liver cancer, and even
lymphatic conditions which we were then able to treat more effectively).
My question is, why not do the surgery if it is the only possibility for
a cure or for life extension?  I would also add, we have done some
significant experimenting in the non-surgical treatment of adrenal disease
which appears to have resulted in either remission or actual cure of the
disease in certain animals.  I would be glad to share our results and
formulas with others in exchange for ongoing progress reports to add to our
research.  These treatments are vet approved and originated with our vet
but can be accomplished at home with, so far, no side effects.  They are
specifically directed at females with enlarged vulva and no other symptoms
such as hair loss (although early coat-thinning seems to be acceptable),
and males with "mounting" and other agressive behavior (again no hair
loss).  We have not done many surgeries on our test cases because they have
not had a return of symptoms.  In one case, however, surgery revealed a
right-sided tumor, but was only the size of 3 pin-heads.  We did surgery
because the ferret came into the shelter with extensive hair loss, which
would indicate a large tumor.  She had been under treatment at the shelter
for 4 months before surgery.  in any case, if the disease is to be treated,
early intervention seems to produce the best results.  If you are
interested, please e-mail directly.
 
Carolyn Kinsey
Ferret Rescue of the Western States
[Posted in FML issue 3157]