Dear Kerry:
 
>I have a ferret male 5.years old.  He has had both adrenals taken out at
>different times.  He is on .5 pred 1-x-day.  Chester eats around 8:30pm
>then he gets his pred, after that he goes to sleep in his dresser and does
>not eat anymore until the next morning around 7:0am.  He does get up at
>1:20am to go potty.  He has axcess to food and water at all times.  Is he
>starving himself ???
 
Well, two good meals a day - I'd like to see him more often, but this
doesn't sound like starving.  However, the only way to tell is to monitor
his weight - is he losing weight?  You don't mention that he is skin and
bones....
 
Have you had periodic checks of his bloodwork since the second adrenal
surgery - some ferrets require additonal medication beyond the prednisone
to handle the loss of all of the adrenal hormones.  Usually a check of a
ferrets electrolytes will show abnormailities which are consistent with
loss of the adrenal hormones which regulate them (the mineralocorticoids.)
Prednisone supplementation will not handle this problem (which is called
an Addisonian crisis).  The most common symptom of Addison's disease in
post-bilateral-adrenal ferrets is lethargy.  While severe cases usually
die quickly, borderline cases may just show marked lethargy.  It's worth
checking the next time you go to the vet.
 
With kindest regards,
bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3297]