Well, Akira (and I, by extension) are now members of the adrenal club.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed that me two year old, neutered, decented
male, Akira, had lost the fur around his tail and the fur on his body
was thinning out.  ACK!  I yelped, and scurried off to the vet.  My
(usual) vet, not being comfortable with anything beyond the basics such
as vaccinations for ferrets consulted another vet, who I shall call X,
as I can't remember his name anyway.  Dr. X said that it was just
seasonal shedding, and that three years old was the magic number for
hormonal problems.
 
Now since Akira did shed his coat back in mid-September (I remember
quite clearly because that's when Judy died, and I was paranoid about
any possible sickness at the time), I had my doubts about this diagnosis
(I did state to my vet that Akira had shed in Sept.), and sent e-mail to
Dr. Williams.  Dr. Williams suggested a second opinion, which I got on
Wednesday of last week.  The vet at the Midwest Bird and Exotic Animal
Clinic in Westchester (Chicago Burb) (Plug plug), looked at Ak and said
he had a classical set of symptoms for adrenal problems, except for the
age.  But, he added he is a ferret (and we all know how well they obey
the rules).
 
Akira's blood test came out just a touch high on the lymphocyte count,
so the vet suggested doing exploratory surgery for the adrenal problem,
and taking a biopsy of the lymph node.  To shorten this up, Akira got
his left adrenal gland removed today.
 
I'm glad I found the FML or I might have believed Dr. X.  As it is, I
caught it before it went too far (but not as soon as I liked, the right
adrenal also looks poorly).
 
Since I don't want Kogeki, the baby bully brat to try to beat up on Ak,
I am going to have him in a separate cage for a while.  I was also
planning on switching bedding so Akira picks up the other three's smell
and vice versa.  Does this make sense?  Anyone have any other
suggestions to ease Akira's recovery?
 
Many thanks to Dr. Williams for encouraging me to quit waffling and get
a second opinion, and for his article on adrenal problems.
 
Liana Winsauer and the rest of the zoo, especially Akira Monster
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[Posted in FML issue 0715]