Hi All,
 
I posted last week because my six-year old female DEW Pixel was having
surgery for adrenal and insulinoma, so I thought I'd post a long-overdue
update.  She came through it okay.  This is the fifth such surgery for our
clan, and the first two days she looked much worse than the others had,
sort of "shocky" and in pain.  I really felt for her.  But she was eating
and drinking from the start, and I think her incision looked worse to us
humans--due to her being a white ferret with such pale skin--than it
actually was.  Anyhow, she seems to be out of the woods now, and will have
her stitches out next week.
 
Pixel never exhibited, to my knowledge, symptoms of agression.  Rather, she
seemed weak and listless, probably due to the insulinoma.  I had Dr. Weiss
check her because she just "didn't seem right", and he recommended surgery.
 
FYI re something Dr. Weiss has pointed out to me about ferrets with adrenal
disease: hair loss on the feet.  All of mine have had significantly
thinning hair on their feet, which grew back after surgery.  I found this
to be very interesting as it seems completely independent of normal
shedding/regrowth patterns.
 
Best regards to everyone and particularly to those who are coping with loss
or with sick fur-children.  You are in my thoughts.
 
Gail Shochet
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[Posted in FML issue 2843]