To Drs. Williams, Brown, Weiss (big welcome on board to FML) and Laura:
 
We hoped the time we have to ask medical questions would come much, much
later.  We have 2 questions regarding adrenal disease and a brown tooth.
 
Last Friday we adopted approximately 3 yo female sable, Precious Sneaker
who shows all the symptoms of adrenal disease:  almost no hair on a tail,
the top of the head (she has a mohawk hair style), around the neck and
the chest; and the swollen vulva with a watery mucus discharge.  Her
activity level is normal -- almost hyperactive, probably because she is
over excited with a new environment.  Her skin is thin and somewhat dry
with dandruff.  This is likely because she had been eating dry catfood.
 
We took Sneak and our 7 yo male Swamp to the vet.  We had a doubt that
Swamp started having adrenal problems -- a bald patch (about 1" in
diameter) on his back, left side of the spine; thinning hair on his belly.
He was gradually loosing weight and sleeps a lot, however, no other big
changes in his activity level.  We noticed that he goes to bathroom often
recently, but could not tell if he drinks water more than usual (he shares
a water bowl with other two ferrets and we change the water frequently).
We have been communicating with our vet regarding this bald spot and decided
to check it out this time.  Our vet scraped and examined the skin of both
ferrets.  We also drew blood from them, gave them ACT (?) stimulant, and
took another blood sample two hours later.
 
Yesterday we received the results of the blood exams, which are inconclusive.
Thyroid and cortisone hormone levels at rest are normal.  No significant
change in both hormone level.  After consulting the vet hospital of Colorado
State University and the one in Illinois, he concluded both ferrets probably
have a hyper adrenal problem.
 
He suggested that we wait and see for Swamp.  Since he is old and had
difficulty to come out of anesthesia in the past when we cleaned his teeth,
our vet is inclined to treat Swamp with Lysodren or Petercarsonal (sp?).
For Sneaker, he would like to give her 2 shots of ACG weekly to suppress
overproduction of estrogen.  If Sneaker's vulva does not diminishes in
size, he plans to conduct adrenalectomy.  He also mentioned that he would
refer Sneaker to CSU vet hospital for ultrasound exam to pinpoint an
adrenal problem, if we wish.
 
Our questions are:
1.  Should we try ACG shots for Sneaker?  How about Lysodren treatment
for Swamp?  I got the impression that adrenalectomy is preferred to other
treatments.  Don't hair loss and swollen vulva (for a female) always
indicate an adrenal lesion?
 
2.  Is an ultrasound exam necessary before adrenalectomy?  Dr. Williams
writes in Disease FAQ that "(t)hese signs are fairly diagnostic, and ...
are so characteristic that no other diagnostic tests are required before
therapy is instituted".  Does the ultrasound exam help to determine which
adrenal gland (or both) has lesions, and hence ease the operation?
 
Another question is regarding the dying tooth.  Our youngest (and most
mischievous) 2 yo female chipped her left canine and it changed color in
October.  The vet said it likely would not cause any problems. He added
that he would perform a root canal if we wish or if the surrounding gums
become red due to infection.  The day after her physical checkup, the area
below her left eye puffed up and her eye looked watery.  Since we were
giving amoxycillin to other two ferrets for their colds, we gave her the
antibiotics, too.  The swelling disappeared the next day.  We thought her
eye was irritated somehow and caused this swelling.  After reading Laura's
and Dr. Williams' comment "infection may spread to the jawbone and your
ferret may lose surrounding teeth", we got scared.  Mythril currently shows
no problem, eating ferret chow and other favorite treats happily.  Her gums
are healthy pink and her cheek hasn't puffed up again.  Should we worry?
 
We believe Sneaker will be a precious addition to our family once she
becomes healthier.  She has such a pretty face and boy, she is talkative.
We have been feeding her chicken baby food every day and olive oil every
other day as nutrition supplement. Her fur coat feels slightly softer.
We want Swamp to be with us longer, too.  He has been good old Swampy;
it's funny and sad to see him trotting to the bathroom swaying his round
brown body.  Sorry for a long post.  Thank you for any comments and/or
suggestions in advance.
 
Mike and Yuki Busch, Ft. Collins, Colorado
Swamp, Nuke Skyjacker, Mythril and Precious Sneaker
[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1044]