To Todd Cromwell:
 
>It surprises me that he blew all that hair all of a sudden, right
>after surgery, and then grew it all back.  Seems weird.  Any ideas why?
 
    First off, I was glad to see several postings concerning the increased
activity in ferrets follwoing adrenal surgery, especially in light of last
week's suggestion that adrenal surgery was not in the best interest of
affected ferrets (I haven't read all of the back issues yet, but Dr.  Weiss
has told me that several posters did mention this fact.)
 
    The hair loss following surgery may simply be due to stress.  While
primarily confined to the tail, thinning of the coat may be the result of
stress.  In fact, adrenal corticosteroids play a large role in cyclic
shedding of hair, with elevated levels coinciding with the onset of estrous
or the breeding cycle.
 
     Good to hear that Seldon is doing better, and that the Tennessee
panel was right on target in his diagnosis.
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP
Dept. of Vet Path, AFIP
[log in to unmask]  OR
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
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[Posted in FML issue 1325]