To Pheret and Pretzel:
 
>pretzel suffers from an adrenal tumor which is, unfortunately,
>on the "bad side."  i had exploratory surgery done and elected
>not to have the tumor removed as the odds were not high.  she
>is fine now except for the fact that she has hair only on her
>head and feet and tail.  she looks like a wereferret.  she
>follows luke, my 3 1/2 lb. albino male around until he settles
>in and she uses him for a blanket.
 
        Pheret - if I could convince you to go back in and remove that tumor, I
would.  REcently, I completed a study of adrenal tumors in ferrets.  I studied
all types and out of 86 tumors, 39 were malignant.  But of all 39 carcinomas,
only 2 were malignant.  The vast majority, even though they looked bad, were
surgically removed and the animal went on to grow all its hair back and live for
another several years.
 
        I recommend all adrenal tumors be removed, no matter how bad they look.
These tumor tend to look a lot worse than they are.
 
       Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
       [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
       (202) 782-2600/2602                 Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
[Posted in FML issue 1021]