Hi, guys.  I am sort of taking a survey as to people's experiences with
ferrets who have had both adrenal glands out.  I am looking for:
 
Ages and sexes of the ferrets.  Are they still alive?  How long have
they/did they live after the second gland was removed?
 
Were the glands removed at separate times?  If so, how far apart?  What
was the extent of their symptoms?  What symptoms did they have (how did
you know/suspect they were adrenal)-what tests, if any, were run?
 
Were biopsies done to learn what kinds of tumors were removed?  If so,
what were they determined to be?
 
What sort of post-op care and medical management (i.e. use of medications
like fludrocortisone/Florinef, prednisone, pepcid, Imuran, sucralfate,
etc) was used?
 
Did any of the ferrets in question develop GI problems peri or
postoperatively?  Specifically, I am wondering about ulcers, but any
GI issues interest me.  When did symptoms of such, if any, occur?  Has
anyone experienced leanring about any ulcers on necropsy (versus actually
having seen symptoms of an ulcer prior to death).  (I personally have had
two bilaterally adrenal ferrets, one who had both removed at once-he had
evidence of a GI ulcer at necropsy-probably died of an Addisonian crisis;
and I had one with the glands removed about 5 months apart who died
almost a year after the first surgery of a perforated, asymptomatic up
to that point, GI ulcer.)
 
Any other info about your experiences with your bilaterally adrenal
ferrets would be welcome, in particular the GI/ulcer issues-if anyone
wanted to share medical records and lab results with me, that'd be great.
Right now this is a personal interest as I approach my third bilaterally
adrenal ferret in a year, and I am learning more about the issues, etc.
It may turn into a more involved project someday.  I have recently heard
info about using Imuran postop in bilaterally adrenal ferrets, too.
 
Experiences the vets here have had would be fabulous, but I am also
looking for the lay person's experiences as well.
 
Thanks in advance for any help!
 
Best,
April Armstrong Campbell and Daisy
 
PS It was my Cora who passed away unexpectedly in November of the
perforated ulcer-she was totally asymptomatic until the day I rushed her
to the emergency clinic in the middle of the night; she was dead about
36 hours later.  She had never had an Addisonian crisis and was put on
pred and fludrocortisone a few times when boarding or being introduced
to my newer ferrets last spring, but otherwise was off medical therapy
except when she was placed into those kinds of different or potentially
stressful circumstances and did quite well.
[Posted in FML issue 5120]