To Karen and the gang:
 
> The vets & I discussed adrenal tumors but they felt it was unlikely
>because of her age.  I don't know what an adrenal tumor "looks" like in
>a ferret, but SOMETHING is certainly going on with her!  The only other
>possibility we can think of is that the spay was incomplete & they
>"missed" part of her uterus or ovaries - which could account for the
>"little buds" if they weren't in such a strange place.
 
     Karen - although 14 months is a bit young for adrenal disease, I
have seen it in younger ferrets than this.  To discount the possibility
because of age is not a wise thing to do.  The possibility of an incomplete
spay or an ovarian remnant is very low - everyone talks about them, and many
ferrets are operated on for them, but no one ever seems to find them.
 
     I would ask the vets if they evaluated the adrenals while they were
in there.  Another avenue is to send serum to the Dept. of Endocrinology,
Univ. of Tenn. for the ferret adrenal panel - while it takes a month to get
results, and it is a bit on the expensive side ($75), the results should
help to solve the question of adrenal vs. ovarian remnant.
 
Bruce H. Williams, DVM         Dept. of Veterinary Pathology
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath    Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
[log in to unmask]         Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
                               [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1223]