I just talked to my vet on the phone about Bud's test results.  It's hard
to follow everything he said, though I took some notes.  Basically I think
it came down to the following:
 
 - Bud's red blood cell count is low, but he is replacing the cells
   (regenerative anemia). The steroid therapy should help suppress
   further red blood cell destruction.
-  His blood sugar is low, but that is probably because he hasn't been
   eating much.  He mentioned something about a sugar solution.  I'm not
   sure now if he said that's what they're using for the fluid injections.
   He did say we want to get him eating again to get his blood sugar up.
 - Bud's liver enzymes (in the vet's words) "aren't really really terrible".
   His blood does contain a lot of bile pigments, and he said there was a
   particular waste that is normally removed by the kidneys, which is not
   very low in his blood, indicating some kidney malfunction, though this
   may be due to stresses from the high bile levels. But his liver function
   appears to be not too bad.
 - He mentioned autoimmune hemolytic anemia (wherein the body attacks its
   own red blood cells), but said it was uncommon, and that the antibodies
   which would normally be involved with this condition did not register
   high on his blood tests (there is a comment from the lab that they
   couldn't really locate any published data on this condition in ferrets).
 - In x-rays the liver looks slightly enlarged, but shows no specific
   lumps. Perhaps I misunderstood him when I spoke to him yesterday, as I
   thought he had said the liver felt slightly larger than during Bud's
   adrenal surgery. Today however he said although the liver is slightly
   enlarged, it is *no* larger than during Bud's surgery. Since he took
   a liver biopsy during Bud's surgery and the results came back negative,
   this makes me a little more hopeful that the root cause might not be
   liver cancer.
 - His activity level isn't bad. He sleeps most of the time, but if someone
   goes by he's usually up and looking out to see what's happening. And he
   occasionally digs at the cage, so at least he feels well enough to
   complain about his accomodations :).
 
I asked the vet about doing a fine needle aspirate, but he did not recommend
it, as it would be an extra stress on the liver.  He recommends continuing
for now with Bud's current treatment (fluid injection, steroids, antibiotics,
and a low protein food) and seeing if he responds.  I think he said we may
do the test later if Bud becomes stronger.  He will be keeping Bud one more
night to get him well started on his treatment, and he'll probably be coming
home tomorrow.
 
I didn't mention this before, and don't know if it's important. In addition
to Bud's tail fur not growing back completely after adrenal surgery (it only
made it about a third of the way down his tail, though his body fur came in
soft and thick) Bud has had a sore on the tip of his tail since even before
his adrenal surgery which will not completely heal. It is not a lump at all,
just a sore, as if he cut it somehow. It started as a blood blister. My
vet thought poor circulation to the tail might have been the reason both
for the wound not healing, and for the tail fur not coming all the way
back. He also suggested that the lack of fur on the tail to protect the
wound might mean it's more easily aggravated. I thought Bud might be chewing
his tail, but have never seen him doing so. I have no idea if this sore is
important, or how it might relate to Bud's adrenal disease or his current
problems. But I thought I should mention it.
 
--
John Rosloot, Caregiver to Buddy, Cassidy and Sammy
Technical analyst, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~john/ferrets.html
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[Posted in FML issue 1418]