It has been a while since I updated the Buttercup story so there is
a lot to tell.  First thanks to Nancy for suggestions in a long
distant FML and special thanks to Katie who suggested vets to talk
to which turned out to be extremely important.
 
The swollen vulva led to some blood work and various tests that
basically said "this ferret is healthy but has too much estrogen
for a spay".  The first vet I worked with immediately wanted to
go looking for ovarian tissue (Buttercup is only about 1 1/2 yrs)
but I was a bit worried after the "incident" with Pandora, so I
turned to one of Katie's recommended vets, the one who had
operated on Molly.  The result was getting an ultrasound done and
sure enough an enlarged adrenal gland was spotted.
 
Buttercup went under the knife last Wednesday, the knife of the
head of surgery here at Angell Memorial, as recommended yet again
by Katie's vet.  She came through looking like she had a new
zipper on her belly and missing various patches of fur on her
tummy, legs, and neck.  She was pretty wiped out on Thursday and
Friday, but by Saturday she was exploring and yesterday she
started climbing into mischief during the 15 minutes or so she
gets to run morning and night these days.  Interestingly she has
now managed to get three of her staples out but she seems to
be healing so once she gets one end out we pull the other to keep
her from eating them.
 
The biopsy showed that it was a tumor in the adrenal gland, and
as usual for these guys not cancerous.  We new expect a full
recovery and we think, hopefully, that the swelling of the vulva
might have decreased a bit.  Buttercup is now worth approximately
8 ferrets in terms of medical bills, not including check ups.  We
must all be mad of course, but happy with the carpet sharks.
 
                        -- Mike, Erica, Ian, Inigo, and Buttercup
 
[Posted in FML issue 0497]