Hi, Mark.  Charlie Weiss is a truly fine vet and a sweet person.  He also
knows endocrinological things very well, as you also know.  Yes, it may
be the other adrenal.  Yes, it is possible for uterine stumps to become
infected but is typically expected to be secondary to adrenal disease in
one that old.  Ditto ovarian fragments: they'd be expected to have kicked
up earlier.  Why not leave a phone message for CW so that he can call
back and you can get some ideas?
 
Some adrenal symptoms besides swollen vulva (female) and fur loss include
urinary infections in either gender, inflamed prostate and urinary
blockage from that (males), inappropriate fat distribution (usually just
a more pronounced pear shape than is typical for the age but fat can also
be laid down in other areas even inside the thorax), behavioral changes
that reflect the higher hormonal levels (more babying, more aggression,
etc.), a change in odor, etc.  Some ferrets have almost no symptoms and
we have encountered some with no symptoms while others may have a whole
suite of symptoms.  Expression varies among individuals.
 
If the second adrenal comes out discuss the ups and downs of Florinef vs.
Percorten with him when you decide whether to do Florinef and Pred, or
Percorten and Pred afterward.  If I recall right you have a long drive
to the vet so the Florinef route may be best for you for that reason.  We
do that and find when crushed and given with Ferretone that pill section
goes down wonderfully for Ashling and has been doing so for 3 years.
(Ashling was our early adrenal girl -- getting bilateral neoplasia at age
3, but at age 6 she is still climbing 8 feet up to the top of our bedroom
closet while carrying up the TV remote so...)
 
Hope that helps.
  ---
 
IBD and lymphoma: Nope, the studies do not exist at this time to know if
IBD actually does lead to lymphoma.  Yes, there are ferrets with IBD who
get lymphoma but it is not know at this point if that rate differs from
those without lymphoma.  Just because there have been ferrets who had IBD
who developed lymphoma, like the one you had, does not mean that they
would have been any less likely to do so without IBD so until the rates
are known to be sure, or a mechanism is proven rather than postulated, or
both it remains hypothetical.  There are good reasons to postulate that
it happens, but the needed data to be sure just isn't in so it not known.
You know how it is: even among the best hypotheses some pan out and some
don't.
[Posted in FML issue 4086]