I am posting anonymously to sheild my veterinarian.  My ferret has surgery
next week for adrenal hyperplasia.  FYI, he reported this is only a problem
her in the United States; in Europe they don't see this.  Also, the problem
is primarily seen with Marshall Farm's ferrets (the ones with the blue
dots).  It is hypothesized that this is due to an effect of lack of end
organ feedback on the pituitary which is somehow related to the age (<=
3wks) of neutering.  It is seen in the left adrenal 80% of the time and is
usually benign 90% of time.  Obviously, treatment is expensive.  It will run
about $350 in this big city (#4).  I will attempt to attach a short article
by one of the experts.
 
[LJ]
 
[Moderator's note: I had to delete that attached article - it was 1300 lines
long.  It was Bruce Williams' Pathology of the Domestic Ferret article which
is available at http://vetpath.afip.mil/ferrets/ferret.path.html    I should
know -- I formatted it for Dr. Williams a couple of years ago. :-)  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 1983]