Went to vet between writing the segments of this letter and heard some
things we had NOT wanted to hear. One was expected: folks who have been
here a bit may recall that Scooter had a lot of one paw chewed off by his
novice mother after he was born (at least that is the expected cause) and
you'll recall that we've always known that some corrective surgery was down
the line. Right now he's got too much bone exposed and has an abscess so
he'll be having surgery. The other one I wasn't emotionally ready for.
Warpie's got insulinoma; it's not bad at this point, just at the stage
where a mild change in behavior was noted. The rough part is that she's
not a particularly good surgical candidate. We're giving Pred while
waiting for her blood test numbers from her multiple tests and then will be
putting together info and deciding on how to approach this. If she were a
good surgical candidate it would be easy even at her age of 5 years (We've
had many with surgery at 5 to 8.), but this makes it a harder call. I was
NOT ready for this and was a bit faded away while trying to adjust -- the
mind doesn't work right in such situations.
One of the realities of ferret medicine is that some basic numbers are
BADLY needed so that adrenal disease can be better understood. Right now
here are some things which as far as I understand are NOT known:
1. How common the development of asymptomatic adrenal disease is.
2. Actual numbers comparing the rates of early neutered, vs. late
neutered, vs. not neutered which are adjusted so the rarity of the
latter two doesn't give a false picture.
3. Actual figures on how common these problems are in other countries
(since they are looked for commonly in the U.S. but that is not true
in all locations).
4. Rate numbers which might give a feel for whether the problem has
isolated causes or is one of those more complex puzzles in which
several things play a part.
5. Actual studies of the things which have been hypothesized to
possibly contribute.
Some hypotheses currently existing for things which might contribute to the
chance of adrenal disease (Note that I do NOT say "cause".), but which have
not been formally studied -- or had tests completed if there happen to be
some underway -- largely due to lack of funding from what I can tell:
A. genetics
B. early neuter
C. too much light exposure and not enough true darkness for long enough
(as in inky blackness where you can't see your hand in front of your
face as it would be in a burrow)
D. stress
E. diet
You will notice that I use the word "hypotheses" because none of these have
been properly studied AT ALL as far as I've read so they don't even qualify
as theories. Still, each of the above has been noticed to be present in
patterns which MIGHT -- REPEAT MIGHT -- contribute to adrenal disease.
To date, there are some meds which reduced adrenals in some but not all and
which have some bad sides, some which look like they are useful quality of
life drugs for some which can't have adrenal surgery, and then there is
surgery which remains the best option. There's also the TN Panel. It's
LONG way from where things were a decade ago, but there is still much to
do. Don't confuse hypotheses with fact, or quality of life with treatment,
and continue to give to veterinary research through the Morris Animal
Foundation, the AFA, and research facilities. The first two steps will
help your current ferrets, and the last one will help both them and your
future ferrets.
Years ago I found out (when trying to get some info for a relative) that
when aloe vera is taken internally by humans it can cause urine to turn
red. Now, I do NOT know if aloe vera is safe for ferrets, but if you use
it on one and later see red urine do NOT do something precipitous like
destroying the animal, please.
Sukie
From my sister's friend Marta: There was a town over-ridden by sadness
where everyone felt that she or he was the most down-trodden of all. Into
this town walked a mysterious individual who advised the townspeople to
hang out their troubles on a clothesline one night. Anyone who wanted
could then take the troubles of another. When the townspeople saw what
each of their neighbors suffered they each decided to take back their own
troubles, and then lightened each others' loads with understanding.
[Posted in FML issue 2679]
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