To Jen Freer:
 
        Jen, what you are describing are adrenal tumors, not renal tumors.  I
find it hard to believe that the docs at AMC would call this a vanity problem.
Estrogen-associated endocrinopathy, which is a syndrome in these animals
including the hair loss that you are seeing, also includes progressive muscle
wasting and rarely can progress to anemia and subcutaneous bleeding.
 
        If you feel that Abby is not a surgical risk,and would not live through
such an operation, then perhaps you should not risk it.  If money is an object,
Dr. Tom Kawasaki in Woodbridge VA, will do it for less than $300 (and he has
done many more than AMC.
 
        I have done two of my ferrets.  As soon as I get a diagnosis, I do it.
These tumors markedly decrease quality of life over the long run.
 
        But I would certainly not call it a vanity problem...
 
        I would suggest that you contact Pam Greene to get a hold of an article
that I wrote several months ago on this condition, which should explain it in
greater detail.
 
       Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
       [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
       (202) 782-2600/2602                 Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
[Posted in FML issue 0993]