Thank you all especially Dr. Williams for the advice on Jonesy!!  You
reinforced what my instincts had been telling me.
 
Took Jonesy to a new vet yesterday afternoon.  Sat and talked for 1 whole
hour!  She outlined all my options and consequences of actions and
inaction's.  We decided that Jonesy's health probably would not tolerate
surgery so we are opting for Lupron injections.  She did say that if I did
want the surgery, she would do it.  She ordered it from Purdue University
and he will receive his first shot later this week.  The vet also hopes
that we will be able to get him off Prednisolone and onto a different drug
(same type, but gentler) .  The vet will give the first two injections and
then I will give them to him myself.  She did give me the impression that
Lupron would help not only the adrenals, but help to reduce or eliminate
the need for prednisolone.  She said she doesn't want to change the
Prednisolone right now, would rather only one drug be new so we can tell
if it is working.  She said (very reluctantly) that I could stand in and
observe during any surgery and recovery period.  She was not fond of the
idea, but if I insist, she WOULD go along with it.  She also will allow me
to hold him if it should come to a point of helping him cross the bridge.
 
Jonesy has lost a lot of weight..down to 3 pounds and that includes the
ascites that he has.  So, we can only imagine what his real weight is.  As
it is, he has a 13 ounce weight loss in 4 months.
 
This vet takes care of a large number of ferrets, and has referred me to a
couple of the people in case I want to "check things out."
 
Something I don't like is the fact that she uses the jugular vein for blood
draws.  States she wants to save the legs for IV's and that blood draws
from the leg will cause breakdown of the cells and give erroneous results.
All in all, it was a good experience and this one seems to be very
knowledgeable and up to date on treatment modalities.  I think I will trust
her.  I like her and Jonesy seemed to like her.
 
Sue and Jonesy
[Posted in FML issue 3307]