Hi, All!!!  Back from summer break with yet another addition to the family --
my husband Ian.  (Who, after initial skepticism, loves my ferrets as much as I
do -- he missed them more than *I* did during our summer trips!)
 
Think I'll just read for awhile to see how far behind I am (hard to believe
we're up to almost the 1000th issue!!!), but would like to comment to the
anonymous query in the last issue.  Although Drs. Brown or Williams are better
equipped to answer this question and I myself have never actually *had* a
furry with a malignancy yet, after working with Dr. Kawasaki last summer and
now thinking back trying to remember some of the data I helped him record, I
don't really remember malignant adrenals being any worse of a prognosis than
benign ones, although I do know that malignancies more often recur or
metastasize (go someplace else in the body).  I *do* remember quite clearly,
however, that adrenal tumours generally cause bilaterally symmetrical hair
loss, usually at the base of the *tail*, rather than the belly.  If your
ferret is older, I would tend to guess that this is more likely just good old
fashioned hair loss, rather than a sign of an adrenal problem, especially if
Ice seems as enthusiastic as ever.  Anyone please feel free to correct me if
I'm wrong.  In any case a call or visit to the vet is never out of place when
dealing with a fuzzy with a history of such problems.  My policy tends to be
better safe than sorry.
 
Hello to any new subscribers out there whom I didn't get to meet over the
summer!  Nice to be back.
 
Laura L'Heureux Kupkee, Trella, Tribble, and their new Daddy, Ian.
U. of Illinois Vet Med Class of `96
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[Posted in FML issue 0934]