>Anyway, I didn't tell Dr. Thorne I was going to ask, but I noticed she was
>loosing hair on her tail.  Dr. Thorne commented on it and I asked her about
>adrenal problmes and she said they had tested her for that, but everything
>came back okay, and it is getting worse so it isn't seasonal.
>
>Does anyone know what it may be so I can point them in the right
>direction?  I just wanted to try to help them out.  Dr. Thorne is great
>with ferrets, but she isn't an expert in the field of ferrets, so I
>thought maybe one of you guys could help steer them in the right
>direction.  Any ideas?
 
Dear Melissa:
 
Hair loss on the tail is a non-specific finding which may or may not be
related to adrenal disease.  Don't jump to conclusions when it is
restricted to the tail - it can also be related to stress - this ferret
is no living in a vet's office - a very confusing noisy place.  Stress
may also result from concurrent disease - ferrets with other illnesses
may lose tail hair.
 
Another item which is missing here is exactly what type of testing was done
on this ferret for adrenal disease - there is only one reliable test for
adrenal disease in ferrets - available through the Univ.  of Tennessee.  If
traditional testing was done, as would be done for a dog or cat, then it
would almost assuredly be negative.  Or levels of hyperestrogenism are
fairly low at this point and not significant enough to result in
generalized hair loss or definitive elevations of adrenal related
hormones.....
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3193]