>From:    Christine Barczak <[log in to unmask]>
>... In early January, Smokey had adrenal surgery.  Her temperment and
>energy level has returned to normal, however her tail fur has not grown
>back, her fur is still thin between the shoulder blades, and her nipples
>are still slightly enlarged.  The vet was hopeful that her fur would grow
>back soon, and since I don't know what is considered "soon", I thought I
>would ask you experts.  Are these symptoms normal this long after the
>surgery?  If so, when can I expect to see improvement?  Should I take her
>back to the vet?
 
I have a fairly unscientific adrenal surgery on my ferret health care
website.  So far, 594 people have participated.  To the question, "After
treatment began, how long before symptoms subsided," 233 or roughly 39%
said symptoms never subsided.  Keep in mind that 128 people said they
elected no treatment whatsoever, and it's impossible to say how many of
those 233 were the ones that elected to provide no treatment.
 
It's possible that if Smokey only had one gland removed, the other, even
though it may have looked externally normal during surgery, is still
overproducing hormones.  You should have seen some improvement by now,
but early January isn't that far back and I would wait just a bit longer
to see if there's any improvement.
 
For the ferrets,
Mike
 
* Michael F. Janke, [log in to unmask]
* South Florida Ferret Help Line, 305-752-7040
*
* Website:  http://www.miamiferret.org
* Adrenal/Insulinoma web site: http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc
* Join the ferret health list at:
* http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-list
[Posted in FML issue 3345]