Victoria,
 
I read your email regarding your ferrets and the diagnosing of their adrenal
tumors.  I know exactly what you are going through!  My ferret Ayla ***just***
went through surgery to have her adrenal tumor removed. It was quite the ordeal
but had a very happy ending.  The adrenal gland the vet removed was about the
size of a medium pea (that is huge in ferret adrenal talk).  Prior to surgery,
she was completely bald except for her head and neck.
 
The surgery was about 3 months ago now.  The vet said it went very smoothly but
it IS a major operation.  As Nancy Hartman pointed out in a recent letter, the
adrenals are all the way on the back of the ferret and are attached to the
kidneys.  This means that the vet must pull out most of the other internal
organs to get at them, and then "repack" the ferret when the tumor has been
removed.  Anyway, after the surgery I was very worried and uncertain whether
Ayla was going to pull through.  For about 3-4 weeks she was so lethargic.  She
had no energy at all.  She would wake up, stumble to the litter box, do her
thing, and then collapse back onto her heating pad (very important).  The
stitches were pretty gruesome looking too!
 
Well, I found out later that her going through the surgery was the EASY part.
For about 2 months afterwards, the ferret had to be SLOWLY weaned off of this
drug called Prednisone.  Aparantly, the adrenal gland that was removed secreated
a chemical very similar to this and the ferret has to be eased off of this
stuff.  This requires force feeding her this pill for quite some time....since
she will not take it on her own.  As time passed, she became much more adapt
at resisting these forced pill takings....good thing that I'm much bigger than
she is!  Anyway, eventually she did get weaned off this drug and her fur is now
COMPLETELY grown in!!!
 
The biggest problem, however, was her lack of eating.  Ayla would absolutely
not eat after her surgery.  She was looking weight at an alarming rate.  In
fact, withing two weeks she was nothing but skin and bone (and bald).  You
could see every rib and her spine in great detail.  Her skin was actually pulled
back behind her ribs and in toward her body since she had no flesh left to push
it out.  I was VERY scared and sure that she was not going to make it.  My vet
gave me a liquid food to give her which she took to immediately. Nancy Harman
also told me about Sustical and Enfmail (?) which are liquid foods for humans
that you can get at pharmacies.  She immediately began to put weigh back on.
She was on this liquid food for about 2 months.  I was sure that she would never
go back to solid food since she absolutley wouldn't touch the stuff since the
surgery.  Even her favorite treats (like felovite) were scoffed at.
 
Now the good news.  As of 2 days ago, Ayla has been eating solid food again and
is completely off of the liquid food.  Once her weight was completely back to
normal from the liquid food, I had to get tough with her (the liquid food is
expensive).  I put the dry food in her cage with a >little< bit of the liquid
food mixed in and left it there for her.  She wouldn't touch the stuff for 2
days and was losing energy (as you would if you didn't eat for 2 days!).  My
vet told me that I had to remain tough.  With her weight being normal she could
afford to go without food for 3-4 days.  Nevertheless, I was very concerned.
Anyway, sure enough she eventually sampled the "repulsive" mixture with her
tongue and that was all it took.  She is now eating normally and has a full coat
of fur.  It was quite an ordeal and took a huge amount of attention and care...
but it was worth it!  Ayla is back and better than ever.
 
Also, as a result of 2-3 months of constant force feedings, pill swallowings,
etc., Ayla is more affectionate to me than ever before.  We've been through so
much over the last few months that she has grown to really love being picked
up and rubbed down more than before.
 
I hope that all goes well with your surgery.  I'm sure that everything will
turn out fine.  If you have any other questions that I can answer based on my
own experience (as others did for me) I will be happy to respond.
 
Tyler Greenberg (Ayla & Gooby)
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[Posted in FML issue 0466]