Dear Gary:
 
I'm seeing several problems here....
 
>I have a 6-year old female, named Minnie, who has gained about a pound...
 
>almost all in her lower torso.  She also appears to be drinking more and
>no longer uses her litter box, perhaps because the extra weight makes it
>difficult to climb in and out of it.
 
>...He says the X-rays do not reveal fluid, but fat.  Her left kidney is
>enlarged approx.  400 percent and her heart is enlarged by approx 20
>percent.  There is elevated protein and sugar in her urine, as well as an
>elevated liver function test.
 
>Last, but not least, the adrenal tests came back positive indicating a
>probable tumor, although my vet told me he felt no significant mass.
 
A kidney that is enlarged 400 percent is certainly a problem.  This may be
either a cystic kidney (often due to a previous urinary tract infection), or
a mass in the area of the kidney.  I would certainly think that it would be
palpable at this time.  The fact that it is so large would suggest that it
is no longer functional.  With an older ferret, you probably have fair wear
and tear on both kidneys, and if one is totally gone, that means the other
one, weakened by age, has to do all of the work.  The fact that she is
urinating more than normal suggests that she may not be able to filter
everything she needs to with her single remaining kidney, and may be sliding
into chronic renal failure.  I would like to know the specific gravity of
the urine, and several of the urinary tests that were run on the blood, such
as the urea nitrogen and creatinine levels before going any farther on this
premise, though.
 
A kidney that large, however, should be removed.  It may harbor infection
that can spread to the other kidney.
 
To complicate matters, an enlarged heart is not a good sign, etiher, and may
complicate surgery even more than her age.  I would start by working up the
heart and seeing if she is even a surgery candidate.  It wouldn't do to rush
in to take out the kidney if her heart is too weak and she wouldn't survive
surgery.
 
Regarding the adrenal tumor, that also needs to be addressed.  The hormone
treatment would probably be manageable.  A recent report on such treatment
was published in Modern Ferret late last year by Dr. Joseph Bock or Golden,
CO.
 
Let's not mince words - there are three large problems with Minnie, not
including her age.  My priorities - heart first, then kidney, then adrenal.
While I believe that homeopathic remedies have their place in medicine - we
are definitely talking about surgery, if possible, in her case.
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP              Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
Dept. of Veterinary Pathology               [log in to unmask]
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1497]