At the risk of being called a Greedy Evil Veterinarian I must protest
Pam's assertion that an adrenal surgery is no more difficult than a spay.
Phooey.
 
Even if only the left adrenal is involved, there is always the risk of the
presence of a pheochromocytoma, a type of adrenal tumor that can cause the
gland to pump out huge amount of adrenalin during the surgery and cause
immediate death.  This must be CAREFULLY monitored.  If a vet has not
experienced this yet, then he/she just hasn't done enough adrenal
surgeries.  Many times the left adrenal is so large that the entire left
kidney must also be removed.  Plus, there is the added fact that vets who
do a lot of adrenal surgeries have invested HUGE amounts of time and
performance of free adrenal surgeries in order to get as good as we are at
doing them.
 
If the right one is involved, removing half of it just doesn't cut it
anymore.  That's a long way behind the times.  You're still left with a
ferret with an adrenal problem.  The gland must be removed entirely, and
that is an EXTREMELY involved surgery.  I now use a micro-surgery loup to
be able to dissect out the right gland and use hemoclips to clamp it off.
A right adrenal surgery takes about two hours and is the most emotionally
stressful surgery that I do on any species, because one slip can cause
death.  Do you really expect me to charge the same thing I charge for a
spay that takes me 10 minutes?
 
Pam, please rethink your statements.  There is no doubt you do a lot of
good for ferrets.  Please don't insult the veterinarians who are trying
to do the same.
 
Dr. K.
[Posted in FML issue 2688]