Hello all,
I'm hoping that some of you who have had experience with adrenal problems
may be able to help me to figure out what to do about Jasmine.  Last year,
around late January she started showing signs which I suspected were adrenal
related, such as hair loss and itching around her shoulders, weight loss,
sleeping more, and swollen vulva.  We had the Tennessee adrenenal panel
done, which was positive and surgery was done in early March 1997.  Dr.
Wellborn described what he did as removing the right gland except for the
membrane which was attached to the vena cava.  The pathology report
indicated that the tumor was benign.  Jasmine made an excellent recovery
from surgery and grew all of her hair back and her vulva returned to normal
size.  She began losing her hair again this year, in Jan. again across her
shoulder and her abdominal area.  It is very thin all over, except on her
head and tail, which appear normal.  I don't notice her scratching like she
did last year.  She also does not show the weight loss like last year, nor
has she shown any drop in activity level or the vulva swelling.  In other
words, the only symptom I see at this point is the hair loss, which appear
to be greater than last year's.
 
My problem is trying to figure out what treatment if any to pusue at this
point.  I do not see Jasmine's quality of life suffering in any way at this
point, however I don't know if not treating her now will compromise her
health and make treatment more difficult later.  And I don't know what
treatment would be best at this point...should I try Lysodren and see if
there is any results, or just pursue another surgery since she did so well
last time (Jasmine is 4 years old).  Of course, I will discuss this with my
vet, but he usually just presents the courses of treatment available to me
and lets me make the choice, so I'd really like input from those of you who
have been there, so Jasmine might benefit from your experience.
 
Thank you in advance for your help.
Lucie
                        @-"-@
                       (=^ ' ^ =)
                    o00 -\o/- 00o
[Posted in FML issue 2284]