>- She has two golf-ball size lumps in her lower abdomen.  When I pick her
>  up, they are quite obvious on either side.
>
>- She has lost quite a bit of fur in the area where the lumps are.  The
>  rest of her fur is very dull.
 
Could the lumps be fat deposits?  I've heard of ferrets rubbing off fur
where their fat makes them rub on the ground.  Sounds a little dubious,
though.
 
>- The vet said it might be her spleen and she was going to look into
>  whether ferrets can have their spleens removed.  I have not heard back
>  from her (that was a couple of months ago).
 
Eeek!  Find another ferret knowledgeable vet!  This one doesn't know enough
for my tastes.  Spleens are removed all the time, and it doesn't seem to
cause them problems.  At least not that I've heard of.
 
>- I am considering surgery, but I don't want to cause any problems
>  unnecessarily--as I mentioned, she is happy and healthy otherwise.
 
Ferrets recover from surgery pretty well.  It would be a shame to operate on
her if it's just fat, but you really need to find a vet more familiar with
ferrets.  A good vet should be able to tell you what it is, or at least
suggest ways to find out.+
 
>2. Rockefeller:
>
>- For at least a year now, Rocky has had no fur on her tail.  The rest
>  of her coat is fine.
>- I've tried bathing her tail with anti-bacterial soap twice a day...
>- I've been giving her Ferretone every morning...
 
Sounds a lot like adrenal to me, but I'm just a layperson.  There are blood
tests that might help, and sometimes x-rays help diagnose adrenal problems.
It's possible to have adrenal problems and *no* outward signs, so she very
well could have a problem and not particularly show it.
 
Again, a ferret-knowledgeable vet would help a lot here.
 
--Barb--
[Posted in FML issue 2274]