Suzanne, you mean midget instead of dwarf and the distinction is
important medically.
 
I have heard of small ones and had one very small one around 21 years
ago (female of 3/4 of a pound at fully grown).  This can happen from
nutritional deprivation at an early age and depending on particulars that
can be negative healthwise or alternatively can be in the noise.  The one
we had suffered liver damage from early nutritional deprivation in her
earliest weeks and perhaps as a fetus so had fatty liver when she passed
from an intestinal disease which can rarely be caught from bird feces.
Some medical procedures are harder with smaller sizes.  Among humans
those of short stature often have longer than normal lifetimes.
 
In dwarfism except for the limbs everything else is of normal sizes, but
the limbs are shortened.  There are many forms of dwarfism, some of which
have medical consequences.
 
Many years ago we had a female who was diagnosed by vets as having
achrondoplasic dwarfism along with a number of other things.  Someone who
later studied her skeleton said that he suspect that something else might
have been at play as well or instead but he never send a write-up though
the write-up from the pathologist showed her to have a lot genetically
against her.  (With a LOT of supportive care she made it to 6 years old
and had some real fun in her years.) She had a number of deformations and
per everyone who examined her she was on the edge of survivability.  Her
dwarfism itself was sadly of a type which causes problems with cartilage
so she had limb and back pain which we learned how to tackle.
 
In her case the breeders wanted short faces and a very lush and long
coat.  They failed to understand that some types of dwarfism also come
with the absolutely most beautiful hair or fur imaginable and also often
with shortened faces, so they didn't realize what they were in-breeding
till disaster struck.
 
Karen, when Fritter had lymphoma in her nodes and pancreas we expected
her to die pretty well right away but with high doses of Pred and
Diazoxide (which early in her disease we had to obtain from human
hospitals, so if folks think it is expensive now -- what we get now for
$85 from Belvidiere Pharmacy in NJ -- which does ship -- we got then for
something like $350 in what dollars were around 15 years ago) she managed
to have 9 months of quality life ahead of her.  In her case she also
needed sweets throughout her illness.  (BTW, we tried that trick with
Ashling when she had carcinoma there and she got 3 months despite it
being carcinoma and despite it already being in 3 organs and almost
killing her as it's first symptom, so it served her well, too.)  Hope
that you have more time together than you thought.
 
Re: adrenal questions:
>What has been the "success rate" in your experience?
 
We are not in your area but the vets we use have gotten MARVELOUS
results.
 
>Did any of your ferrets die during or due to the surgery?
 
No, and we have had ferrets in our family for going on 22 years so as you
can imagine we have had a lot go through the surgeries.
 
>How many months or years did it extend their life?
 
NONE of our's died of adrenally related problems except for one, Hjalmar,
who had lymphoma there and even he got 14 months with treatment.  (That
was in the years of Lysodren and a lot of Pred was also used for him and
that is a good drug for lympho, so while I usually don't have a high
opinion of Lysodren it MIGHT have some uses for those who have lympho in
adrenals, though even that may not be so.)
 
We tend to not have early adrenal neoplasia here (perhaps all the full
darkness we provide for many hours every day helps) so the longest was
our unusually early adrenal case (Ashliing) who lost both to hyperplasia
(which is benign) at age 3, got put on Florinef and Pred then went on to
have almost another 4 years in her until she died of carcinoma.  Meltdown
went 3 and 1/2 years after she lost one adrenal to adenoma (which is
malignant but usually doesn't spread if caught early though it can) and
had another 3 and 1/2 years in her till cardiomyopahty took her.  The
others were like that, too.  Seven of Six even had three surgeries
because her right one was invading her Vena Cava and she didn't have
good enough collaterol circulation to survive a ligation.  When she went
it was from A/V Heart Node block caused by insulinoma.
 
>In your experience is it worth it to have the surgery done?
 
Completely.
 
>Does it extend their life or would it be the same without the surgery?
 
How old is the ferret?  If the ferret is elderly like 8 or so then Lupron
shots might make more sense to try.
 
DO remember that adrenal disease that is NOT removed carries dangerous
complication risks like fatal anemia, dysuria (which is painful and can
be fatal) from swollen prostates, etc.  Even when it doesn't endanger
life it greatly undermines quality of life.  There is a LOT on this in
the FML and FHL archives.
[Posted in FML issue 4394]