Hi freinds -
 
Two months ago, my 4.5 yr old MF male, Pogo, was operated on for an adrenal
tumor.  The first sign that Pogo had this tumor was excessive licking (he
really became obsessed with it); I posted about it here, and several
shelter owners wrote back that they had seen excessive licking as a sign
of adrenals before.  I had a U/Tenn panel run, and the results clearly
showed elevated levels of hormones well above normal.  Based on this, I
had the suregry done by Dr. Robert Brust, a vet very experienced with
ferrets and who has done many adrenals before.  He removed the left
adrenal, which looked somewhat enlarged and discolored; the right looked
fine and was left.  By the time the surgery was done, there were some signs
that hair loss, esp.  on the tail and legs, was just starting and his coat
was starting to thin out.  Before surgery, he was 2.12 lbs in weight.
 
It is now two months later.  Pogo lost some weight after the surgery (when
his stitched were taken out after 2 weeks, he was 2.8 lbs.  He has not
regained any of the weight, and may have lost a bit more (his collar seems
a bit looser to me).  The patch on his belley where he was shaved has only
regrown very light underhairs, but it is still primarily bald.  His tail
and his legs have a thinner coat than at the time of surgery; while I can
not swear that the hair loss has continued past 4 week post-surgery, it
certainly has not regrown any (I am assuming it would take at least 4 weeks
for hairs that died or were dying prior to surgery to fully fall out).  The
licking, while not as obsessive as pre-surgery, has continued.  His ebergy
seems good, although he is not usually up playing for more than an hour at
a time - but he is very interactive with his buddy, Henry.
 
I am interested in hearing fromothers, esp.  vets and shelter owners -
should I still be concerned that the hair has not regenerated, and the
licking has not stopped?  Is it just too soon?  Should I wait and see what
happens after the fall shed?  I really expected most of the pre-surgery
signs to have abated by now, and am surprised that they have not.
 
Thanks for all of your help and advice.
 
Best - Mason, Pogo, Henry, Leila, and the spirit of Slinky, watching over
us all from the Rainbow Bridge.
[Posted in FML issue 2810]