Part of a continuing discussion:
>>The male ferret, Slater, a four year old angora has already
>> started to grow back his hair.  He had bilateral surgery for adrenal
>>carcinoma.  The female ferret, Kali a very healthy six year old,
>> has yet to grow back any hair. Except for the feet and head she is
>>completely bald.  Her energy level is actually a lot higher now than
>>pre surgery and she is less "needy" and certainly does not want to
>>held anymore...
 
>Well, XXXX, we KNOW that Ashling sure lost both of her glands after her
>acute onset because she requires hormonal replacement with florinef and
>prednisone but she never re-grew her sacral area fur.  Upshot: while
>pelage problems can indicate that there may be remaining adrenal tissue
>that is kicking up, it could also just mean that the follicles died.
>
>There certainly are situations in which doing the Tennessee Panel may
>make sense to know for sure; you may be in one of those situations.
 
XXXXXXXX:
 
I'll expand just a bit on what YYYYYYY says about the follicles.  One of
the myriad effects of estrogen on the body is to cause involution and
atrophy of the follicle.  As levels of estrogen begin to build up, many
of the layers of the follicle that cooperate in the formation of the hair
shaft begin to wither away.  Two variables that affect this process are
a) how much estrogen is secreted and b) how long it has been secreted for.
When the follicle has reach a critical level of atrophy, it no longer can
produce a hair.  When it exceeds another level, it cannot even retain the
hair shaft that it produced, and the hair falls out.
 
Ferrets who have had tumors that produced tremendous amounts of estrogen,
and have had them for a while, would be expected to have tremendously
atrophic follicles - empty follicles that couldn't regrow a hair.  As the
levels of estrogen decrease, the atrophic changes regress, and the hair
follicle begins to regenerate the lost germinal layers.  Some follicles may
only need the excess estrogen to go away (this is why your angora ferret
started growing very quickly), some may require the extra stimulation that
entry into the next shed cycle may bring, and sadly, some ferrets may have
had such stress to the follicles, that they have withered beyond repair
(luckily, this is uncommon.)
 
Sukie's other advice is also quite sound.  About 15% of all adrenal cases
are bilateral.  The fact that the other adrenal was not found is a good
thing, but does not totally rule-out the possibility of a function lesion
in a difficult-to-find left gland.  As spring approaches, most ferrets
are now starting to shed out.  If within 60 days, there is no sign of
hair regrowth, I would probably run the Tennessee panel to see if there
is continued estrogen secretion from that hidden left adrenal.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce H. Williams, DVM, DACVP
 
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[Posted in FML issue 3361]