>I read Dr. Williams post today. it does not answer my questions, one of
>which was whether the information in John Hines article was incorrect.
I think that if you use the search engine for the Ferret Helath List
Archives you'll find that some aspects which normally apply to other
species have been generally discounted in ferrets, but don't hold me to
remembering clearly where those posts were or their detials right now.
Right now I have had very little sleep, with one ferret post-op and
having a progressive GI problem that even has his stomach adhered to
his liver now and which may be partly a disease process and partly
because he has multiple deformities, one with a serious heart condition
(Complete A/V Heart Node Block, a fatal condition which she has survived
for over 2 months now with careful care) that has gotten more complicated
(ventricular bigemini), and tons of work for home, family, the Ferret
Health List and elsewhere. I've been burning the candle at both ends
too much so have to keep this short and count on you to follow your
search further and report upon it for all of us. Okay?
I think that you should post the specific questions on the FHL, too, and
use a catchy subject header to encourage replies from such experts, as
well as finding their names on their past posts, clicking ont them, and
writing to them privately, or finding their adddies elsewhere and asking
them privately.
Adrenal disease in ferrets differs MARKEDLY in some regards from that of
other species.
My impression is that the article is a clearly-written, basic standard
mammalian adrenal function review paper and a well done one, but that
such papers are assumed to be read with the understanding that variations
do exist, both among individuals and among species.
Meanwhile, at least you have some info to start from on your question
about whether it is better to use Lupron rather than surgery in
individuals since you now know of deaths which might have been avoided
if surgey were used.
>information that would be interesting to know about the study would
>be how many years did it last, and how long the ferrets have had
>symptoms before starting treatment.
You'll have to get a copy of the study paper or ask them directly.
>my ferret vet is not against surgery, he just prefers to administer
>Lupron doses and checks various things to figure out if it is working or
>not. if there is a tumour, he will take it out. he checks for tumours
>via ultrasound.
We"ve had adrenal tumors which showed up in surgery not show up on
ultrasound, and once had one appear that wasn't even there due to a quirk
of the testing that day which i can't explain because i don't know how
those sightings happen.
>I've been disappointed with surgery because of a recurrence adrenal in
>my first ferret, and had yet to read any information that will convince
>me that surgery is a better alternative when no tumour growths are
>observed.
In 20 years we have had some bilaterals in our family. Two were true
ones: one with both at once, and one with one after the other. Another
was a secondary location for lymphoma so that wasn't the same since the
tumors arose when many organs were affected with lymphoma. If I recall
the numbers right the general rate for bilateral adrenal growths is
thought to be something in the 15% to 20% (That is working from recalled
multiple vet reports in the FHL so you can look them up). Some vets,
like Dr. Jerry Murray are working on possible ways to reduce the rate of
second adrenal growths such as using Lupron secondary to surgery, using
melatonin secondary to surgery, or both. Using true darkness for around
14 hours a day is also among the things being suggested by him to try
(and he isn't alone among vets in suggesting any of these).
>thanx for the input.
Hope this helps. Sorry thatmy knowledgte and the time I can give to you
is so limited.
[Posted in FML issue 3897]
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