Please keep sending information about pets that have died from adrenal
disease.  So many people have posted about ferrets that have died from this
that I should expect more than a hundred examples.  Send them in!  You can
make them as elaborate as you like, but I minimally need something like
"Name, Sex, Coloration (albino, sable, etc), and at onset of adrenal
disease, treatment, age at death (or years surviving), Ferret Origin
(Shelter, MF, etc)." Throw in some comments on hair regrowth, behavioral
changes, and the like.  Also report medicines and dosage, cost of treatment,
alternative treatments, etc.
 
Some comments on a few comments, personal and public.  First, I would never
advocate anyone taking my advice over a vet.  Long-time FML people *know* my
position on veterinary medicine and the sainted people who work at it.  They
are the finest people I know, and no one will ever hear me say my general
advice is better than a personal inspection by a qualified vet.  Nor is this
'study' an attempt to keep people from having surgical proceedures from
being done to their pets.  Not at all.  All I want to know is, what is the
survivability rate for each possible treatment compared to no treatment at
all?  That is why I only asked for ages of ferrets at onset and at death
(adding a "still alive" category won't hurt).  I don't personally care what
treatment is given; that is up to the vet and the owner.  I just want to
know how well each one works, nothing more.
 
Second, I should have mentioned the $500-700 range for surgery was at the
top end, pulled from prices quoted on the FML in the last year.  I've heard
of places that will do it for less than $200, and my guess is the average is
about $300.  My beasts are priceless to me, but every vet will tell you that
money is a consideration in animal treatment for many people.  I don't like
it, never will, *but it exists,* and should be intelligently addressed.
Already an economic triage system is in place at many shelters.
 
I also have Hillyer's book, and Fox and just about anything else you can
find.  I disagree that surgery is a cure; it is a *treatment* that
*sometimes* results in a cure.  Cure implies that the condition will not
return, that it is gone.  In fact, I personally know of dozens of ferrets
"cured" by surgery, only to later die from the very disease they were cured
from.  Surgery is a treatment, one prefered by many, and probably the best
option, but it is not a definative cure.  *However,* even if it was a cure,
doesn't the post-surgical length (and quality) of life have to be balanced
with the trauma and pain of surgery?  I've *had* major abdominal surgeries,
and prayed for the morphine.  You can't tell me animals feel pain any less
than I do, and you better offer solid scientific evidence if you try (this
is not anthropomorphizing; do a little anatomy work and you discover pain is
a function of certain sensory cells, and most animals have the same type and
number of them as we do).  Many doctors have arrogantly dismissed this, even
to the point of doing surgery on infants without using anesthesia, basically
because babies can't say it hurts and it is assumed it is forgotten anyway.
This is only now starting to change with human babies; its not a
consideration to many vets.  But it should; pain and suffering, as well as
other surgical risks, are a viable part of the decision making process.
 
To answer the part about using steroids.  "Steroids" is a general term like
"cars" or "pencils."   It is a class or group of compounds containing a
perhydrocyclopentanophenanthrene ring within its nucleus.  These are
organic, contain fatty acids, and includes such diverse compounds as Vitamin
D, Cholesterol, Bile Acids, Cortizone, Hormones, and even nasty carcenogenic
substances (Trivia: the body builds most of these out of cholesterol, and
most are closely related in structure and composition).  Steroids are
essential for life.  It is not unusual for one steroid to be the antagonist
of another; in fact I could cite dozens of cases where one steroid counters
another.  I can't describe the biochemistry behind how steroid therapy helps
in adrenal disease because I haven't read a description of it, but I have an
example running in my front room that proves it can work.  It is also a
treatment and not a cure, but in some circumstances, it might be the best
option.  Sandy's condition is inoperable, and the steroids have improved her
quality of life, returned all hair except for that on the tail, and lets her
play.
 
There is no question that in many circumstances surgery is the best option
for adrenal disease, but the goal of this investigation is not to redefine
options.  It is to improve our ability to make competent decisons.  Buddy is
a prime example.  He was a poor surgical risk from the onset, and since he
was on borrowed time because of his advanced age, I felt the pain and risk
of surgery was unwarranted.  He lived almost a year once the onset of the
disease first manifested itself, dying at about 10 years of age.  While
Buddy may be at one end of the spectrum of treatment, and healthy
2-year-olds at the other, there are still a tremendous number of ferrets
that fall into a medical no-mans-land where making a decision is currently
difficult because of a lack of information.  This is especially true in
shelters having large numbers of ferrets and limited funds.  Which one do
you save?  Honestly, I want to save them all, but that is *not* going to
happen.  As for this "study," I think what is really warranted is an
outstanding vet with lots of clinical data should publish a report comparing
different treatments to non-treatment, with special reference to
post-onset/treatment survivability.  Perhaps a multi-speciality team would
be better, so a single point of reference would not drown out the others.
In my experience, the surgeons say "cut," the internists say "medicate," and
the holistic types say "drink nasty tea and stop eating meat."  Who is wrong
depends on the perspective.
 
Bob C and 20 MO Furbutts
[Posted in FML issue 2153]