To Janice Underwood:
 
>  I've posted in the past about V'orri's health problems, and he
>has already had his right adrenal gland removed back in February of 94.
>He is now showing all the same symptoms, hair texture change, loss and
>breakage; thinning skin, turning into a pear etc. My vet does not feel
>capable of doing the surgery, so I am looking for someone who will.
 
    Janice, If you don't mind the travel - you may wnat to call Charlie
Weiss - (301) 299-2142 - down here in D.C.  I'm pretty sure that he will be
able to help you out.  He has a growing list of clients from the NY
area....
 
>    However, in addition to this known problem, we seem to have some
>others.  His spleen is enlarged [ which it has done in the past, and then
>gone back to normal ] and very hard, and he was showing some weird green-
>blue area under the skin in front of his penis.  He has been x-rayed, and
>shows both the enlarged spleen and an enlarged liver.  Is the enlarged
>liver likely to do with the adrenal problem, or am I looking at yet
>another medical problem unrelated?
 
    Now the green-blue area underneath the preputial skin is most likely a
collection of small cystic sweat glands - there are large numbers of these
glands in this area, and they often become cystic.  In a low number of
cases, they can develop into either benign or malignant neoplasms.  The
malignant neoplasms can be very aggressive....
 
    The liver may be the result of low-grade cardiac disease, with blood
"backing up" into the liver and cuasing it to increase in size - this is
known as chronic passive congestion, and it is not uncommon in ferrets of
V'orri's age.
 
    Enlarged spleens are very common and suggest a chronic smouldering
infection - they are often due to chronic Helicobacter infection inthe
stomach - on their own, they are a symptom more than an entity, but when
they get extremely large, they cause the ferret to feel ill, and should be
considered for removal.
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP
Dept. of Vet Path, AFIP
[log in to unmask]  OR
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
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[Posted in FML issue 1300]