To Susie:
 
That's great news.  Dr. Kemmerer is a terriffic ferret vet, and I'm glad it
all worked out.
 
>(For those of you who may not remember, Casper displayed some hind end
>weakness that I was told that was due to a spinal injury.  Casper later
>became unable to urinate.  I was told again that this was due to a spinal
>injury and to take Casper to the University of FL ASAP.  Instead I called
>Troy Lynn and Dr Williams.  Both agreed that Casper probably had an adrenal
>tumor.  So, I took Casper to Dr Kemmerer in Gainesville who performed the
>surgery last Friday.)
 
 
In case this sounded cryptic to anyone, let me explain:
 
The history of hindlimb weakenss doesn't send me anywhere.  This symptom
isn't specific; many sick ferrets get it - ones with heart disease, tumors,
bad breath, etc.
 
Now when she said Casper was having trouble urinating - in male ferrets,
what appears to now be the most common cause of difficulty urinating is
prostatic disease resulting from the changes that excess estrogen (from an
adrenal tumor) makes in the prostate gland.  It causes formation of large
cysts which impede urine flow.  Although bladder stones also can cause
trouble urinating, they are far less common that adrenal-related prostatic
disease.
 
As Susie was going down to the Univ. of Fla to have a specialist look at
Casper's spinal cord, I suggested she stop at Dr. Kemmerer's first (who is
pretty close).  Even though UF has a great vet school, when it comes to
ferret diseases, I would trust Dr. Kemmerer a lot more.  So she did, and I
think everything turned out for the best.....
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP              Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
[Posted in FML issue 1692]