>My 4 yr. old ferret, Snowflake, was recently diagnosed as having insulinoma
>(via blood test) and possibly adreanal disease (symptomatic)....
>I've read so many sad tales about how hard the surgery is on them!!  If
>anyone could give me an info on experiences with either surgery, I'd be
>grateful.
 
Hi Pamela,
 
I just had my first experience with adrenal surgery.  My 4 year old Tracy
had only one symptom: swollen vulva.  There really wasn't anything else it
could have been (except and incomplete spay, but given her age, I didn't
think so).  When she was opened up, they found it was bilateral.  Tracy was
the first ferret my vet had worked on with an affected right gland.  She
did not ligate the vena cava and this was just before the cryosurgery
announcement.
 
Tracy did beautifully.  I took her home after the operation and put her in
an isolation cage with supplemental heat (she had been given a pain killer
and was really out of it and had trouble maintaining her body temp for
another 12 hours or so).  By that night, she had used the litter box (no
misses!), eaten a bit, and drunk some water.  By the next morning, she
seemed a bit sore and slept more than usual, but was otherwise fine.  The
next day, I put my gentlest ferret in with her.  All was still fine.  By
the 10th day, I put her and her companion back in with the rest of the
gang and removed Tracy's stitches.
 
Since then, her vulva has been steadily shrinking - almost back to normal
now.  I've had no problems whatsoever - no forcefeeding, no duck soup, no
litterbox problems, no re-acceptance problems with the other ferrets, etc.
 
So, there aren't always complications.  Surgery is still the preferred
treatment of adrenal disease in a ferret under 6 years of age and should
be less expensive than the $675 per year for Lupron.
 
Good luck,
 
Kim
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[Posted in FML issue 2890]