To Lindley Gardner:
 
>Well Idgie and I are back.  She is now losing hair on her tail and her
>vulva area looks much larger than Lisa's.  My vet said that before I
>bring her in I have to give him a weeks notice because he orders a
>special test kit and it will cost $100.
 
    While the price is about right - the hormone test from the University
of Tennessee costs about $75, I don't recall any "kit".  You should check
this out before you hand over the money.  If it's not going off to UT, I
wouldn't spend that amount of money for it.  The UT tests are a group of
seven hormones, rather than one test for estrogen - which often comes up
negative on it's own.
 
>Is this test necessary with the presence of the other two symptoms?
 
    That depends on the severity of the other symptoms and the experience
of your vet.  Remember, hair loss on the tail in itself, does not mean
adrenal disease - it must progress forward over the flanks and abdomen
before I would make that call.  And rather than comparing vulvas from two
ferrets, it's best to seek the advice of someone who knows what to look
for.  There may be considerable difference between two individuals.
 
    Regarding how much time you have to make the decision as to whether
Idgie is a candidate for surgery, you have actually at least a couple of
months - many cases take a long time to become manifest, but the surgery is
best done as early as possible.
 
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 1278]