My 4 yr old angora, Gracie, just went through adrenal surgery 2 weeks ago.
The left one was removed.  The symptoms were weight loss, dry, dull coat
and what sounded like a cold.  She was sniffling, sneezing and had a runny
nose.
 
The vet said the mass was "huge and ugly" and he did not think it was
adrenal at first because it was not "floating" in the right place.  And it
"did not have a good blood supply and came out easily".  But the results
from the lab confirmed it.
 
Gracie came through it all great!  After a day or two, she was acting
normal.  I kept her in a separate cage but I could tell she hated it and
wanted to be with her buddies.
 
She had a huge incision with big, scary looking stitches.  I was afraid to
pick her up.  We called her "Frankenferret".  The stitches were removed
after 10 days and also had to take an oral antibiotic.  That was hard to
give her.  She would spit it back at me and believe me, I don't blame her,
it tasted horrible!
 
It is soooo cute when she tries to do flat ferret!  She will only flatten
the top half of her body and not the bottom half.  I guess because the
floor is too cold for her shaved tummy!  Kind of looks like she is bowing.
 
Now I just need to fatten her up and get her coat nice again.  I am going
to make some chicken gravy.
 
So I guess angoras are just as prone to the typical diseases as other
ferrets.  I have always fed her high quality ferret food.  But hopefully
I will have her for a long time to come.  I think she is very special.
 
Dooks to all,
Ingrid
[Posted in FML issue 2888]