We are a ferret shelter located in southern Colorado and are just one of
several good shelters in this State.  And we have just seen our first case
of Cystic Prostatic Disease.  Since I have the priviledge of working with
my vet in surgery, I got a good look at how devastating this little-known
disease can be.  I expect, with as many adrenal tumors as we are seeing,
that it will become better known soon.  In this case, we were fairly certain
that there was an adrenal tumor with the bilateral alopecia, but the owner
did not have funds for surgery.  By the time we saw the ferret at the
shelter (and had agreed to provide funds for the surgery), it was dragging
its hips on the floor and had virtually ceased to defecate and urinate.
Emergency care at the shelter was all that kept it going until surgery the
next day.
 
The surgical findings were a small, but obvious left adrenal tumor, and the
entire pelvic region filled with a massive cyst oozing pus.  The cyst was so
large and had so throughly involved the entire urinary tract of the animal
that it was reluctantly decided to euthanize the animal.  I would be
interested in hearing the findings, treatment and outcome of other such
cases.
 
We have been--and still are--involved in the controversy over the
disposition of older black-footed ferrets which have spent years in cages
are now are being released to their deaths in the wild.  But we fully
support the release of "educated" YOUNG ferrets.  Now that many of the
FMLers have seen the goverment's view of the BFF recovery program, we would
like to offer our version, lived first hand.  We will send a copy at no
charge if contacted at our e-mail address or you can access it on the Web at
http://members.gnn.com/AcmeFerret/bffhist.htm and, of course, we are here
for all Southerwestern domestic ferret owners.  By the way, BFFs are in
estrus (heat) for only about two weeks a year.  That is one reason their
numbers have always been small and why it is difficult to breed them in
captivity!
 
   Cordially,
      Ferret Rescue of the Western States
      Carolyn Kinsey and Andy Abate
[Posted in FML issue 1702]