I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas about hairloss in a ferret that is
not adrenal.  Mikette who is 6 had her right adrenal removed when she was
3, and even then she barely had any hairloss.  Last summer she started to
lose her hair, first her tail and then thinned along her legs and belly.
She was put on monthly shots of lupron (we had done the tennessee panel
months earlier and had discussed rechecking in 6 months, but the clinical
signs were strong and we put her on lupron) which didn't stop the
hairloss.  It was gradual but her hair has thinned all over her body,
you can see her skin through the thin hair, and little spots on her here
and there are totally bare.  An ultrasound showed surprisingly no signs
of adrenal, so we stopped the lupron and 2 1/2 months did the Tenn.
panel which showed no adrenal.
 
She is insulinomic and on Pred and Diazoxide.  I'm thrilled she's not
adrenal again, but now her vet and I are concerned about the hairloss.
I'll be talking with the vet on Monday, but was hoping form everyone's
experience that there may be some clues.
 
Risa
PS I agree, it's crazy to have put her on lupron without testing for
adrenal.  With my vet at the time the Tenn.  Panel cost over $400 and
we had just tested Jillie too.  Mikette's clinical signs were seemingly
obvious so the vet offered to start lupron and see if it made a
difference.
[Posted in FML issue 4842]