To anonymous concerning Ollie's hair loss...
 
        You said:  "My husband doesn't think that just hair loss should warrant
        an expensive operation.  What will happen if we don't do this soon?"
 
      The pattern of hair loss that you have described is very consistent with
an adrenal lesion.  Animals with adrenal lesions also have difficulty with their
back legs as you have described.
 
        This is a fairly simple question.  Olly will continue to lose his hair,
and the adrenal lesion will cause progressive loss of muscle all over his body,
which is generally most noticeable in the hindlegs first.  He will have
difficulty supporting his weight in the hind end and will get tired very easily.
He will also fall to one side on a regular basis.  This is the general pattern
with adrenal tumors.
 
        There is no guarantee that the operation will be curative - I grant you
that.  Some animals, as we have discussed recently on the list, have lesions in
both adrenals, although this is the vast minority of cases.  The chances
however, are very good that the surgery will correct the problem, and I can
tell you that without it, there is no hope for improvement, only a steady
deterioration in condition.  I have seen these cases, when addressed
surgically, (including one of my own ferrets), make a complete recovery.
 
        You said:  "The surgery will cost about $250.  With Xmas approaching,
this is a bit stiff for me right now."
 
         There are no spontaneous recoveries from these adrenal neoplasms.
Surgical intervention is Olly's best hope and would most likely be the greatest
Christmas gift of all.
 
 
Bruce Williams, DVM
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[Posted in FML issue 0633]