Sorry it took me so long to reply to your question.  Since the left side
was removed about 6 months ago and now you are having adrenal gland
problems again (swollen vulva), it is a pretty sure bet that the right
gland is now the problem!  Yes, the right gland can be removed in its
entirety by surgery.  It sure helps to have magnifying loupes to do this
delicate surgery.  As you may know, the right gland is normally very close
to the caudal vena cava (the largest vein), or attached to it, or/and
sometimes even inside it.  Thus this is "the hard side." Sometimes we have
to take part of the wall of the vena cava out with the tumor, sometimes we
have to take a section of the vena cava out with the tumor, and sometimes
we even have to tie off the vena cava to remove the right gland.  As you
can see this often involves doing some vascular surgery to repair the vena
cava in order to remove the right adrenal gland.  Some people recommend
cryosurgery (freezing to kill) to destroy the right adrenal gland.  It is
consider to be safe, but I cannot say it gives better long term results.
We have been using cryosurgery on skin tumors for several years, but it
does not always work.  My gut feeling is the same will be true with adrenal
glands.  Plus some of the right adrenal carcinomas are so large (ping
pong size to fist and a half size) that they would not likely respond to
cryosurgery.  At least not with the unit we use.  I still do regular
surgery with magnification (prepared to do some vena cava repair) for the
right adrenal gland.  As for the second part of your question: Yes, if both
adrenal glands are removed then the ferret will need replacement hormones
such as liquid pediapred, percorten-V injections, or florinef tablets.
 
Hope that helps,
Jerry Murray, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3427]