To whom it may concern...Ann Davis forwarded the 2/13 postings to me and I
noted two of interest.
One concerned swollen vulvas in ferrets.  If the ferret is under 18 months of
age, the most common cause is a portion of the ovary that has been left in
after a spay (ar the spay was not done at all)  something that we have seen
on several occasions on these little guys that are neutered at an early age.
Sometimes the ovarian tissue is not in the spot that it should be, and we
have twice found it attached to the fat in other areas of the abdomen.  What
may be happening is that small fragments of the ovary at the time of the spay
are "showered" into the abdomen and take up residence where they can get a
blood supply and start growing and ultimately producing hormones.
The most common reason by far, however, for swollen vulvas in females that
are spayed, is adrenal disease, usually cancer.  These ferrets are usually 3
years of age and older.  It is an increasingly common problem amongst
American ferrets in this country.   They also can have hair loss, thinning of
the skin and other signs.  Males can also have the hair loss, increase in
body odor and other signs.  At another time, I will get into the reasons that
this disease may be common in this country, but I need to keep this short for
now.  There are no reliable tests to test for adrenal cancer...some hormone
studies are being looked at now, but the best diagnostic aid is exploratory
surgery..also at the same time one can check for ovarian tissue.
 
On the subject of whether a ferret can have both adrenal and lymphoma
problems the answer is and emphatic YES.  Unfortunately in our practice (18%
of the practice is ferrets) we see multiple cancer DAILY.  It is most common
to have adrenal cancer and insulinoma together (90% of the time) and then we
also see lots of lymphoma with or without the other two...also lots of skin
tumors.  Unfortunately, in this country cancer is a HUGE problem in ferrets.
It may be difficult to manage a ferret with all three problems, but it can be
done
Susan Brown, D.V.M.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0729]