>I have a ferret that is approximately 4 years old.... Several months ago,
>he was diagnosed with adrenal problems via the Tenn. Panel test.  His tail
>was balding, he became very "fat", fat sacks hanging from under his little
>arms and from under his back legs.  He is still gaining weight, now
>waddleing around.  My vet, gave him a Lupron shot in hopes that we might
>see some good from it.  There was no visable evidence of any change in
>Norton's condition.  The doctor has examined him and we have discussed his
>condition several times.  I do not feel that Norton would make it through
>surgery and the doctor is also hesitant regarding surgery because he fears
>that he would not be a good candidate due to all of the fat that he has,
>his age, etc.... He eats, drinks, urinates and has bowel movements that
>look fine.
 
4 years old, eating, drinking, and pooping well - just fat - I guess I am
not seeing a major contraindication for adrenal surgery here.  Now you
don't mention any bloodwork results that may show that he has some
systemic illness, but on the light of this info, I ceratinly would not
rule out surgery.
 
Yes, fat does make the technical part of the surgery more difficult -
adrenals are very difficult to find in fat ferrets, but fat ferrets are
not necessarily poor surgical candidate.  And 4 is really not old - many
of us do surgery on 7 year olds, if they are otherwise healthy.
 
Remember that Lupron may result in hair regrowth and increased activity,
but it doesn't result in a cure, or even a slowed progression of an adrenal
hyperplasia or neoplasm.  Surgery for a 4-year-old animal is still the best
option.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3203]