Hi all,
 
I have a Marshall Farm ferret Ginger who had two adrenal surgeries last
year.  She was 3 years old and we had her first surgery done on December 26,
1996.  The vet took out her left adrenal gland and told us that the right
one was fine.  No cancer was found.  She was up and playing the same day.
Two months later, she still did not seem like she was getting better and all
the signs of this disease were still present.  I took her back to the vet
and he went in a second time to look at the right gland.  He debulked the
right gland as much as he was able to and left the rest of the gland in
place.  (I understand these gland regenerate themselves.) Once again no
cancer was found and she was playing the same day.  I was a little upset
that I had to take her in for surgery once again just two months later, but,
if I did not, the first surgery would have been useless.  It is now been a
year and she has fully recovered.  All of her hair has returned and she
brings us plenty of joy each day.  She is now 4 years old and I choose to
put her through the surgery because she was so young and healthy otherwise.
Each surgery cost us $325 The total visit and surgeries came out to about
$800.  Surgery was without a doubt the best route for our ferret.
 
I recommend surgery if you ferret is otherwise healthy.  These animals are
truly amazing, I mean if we were to have surgery, it would take days before
we could do anything for ourselves and these little guys are up and about
just a few hours later.
 
Maria
[Posted in FML issue 2153]