Guess I just could not resist being the first to mention the Golden Ferret Award. I saw it last night on TV. It's a sports award, apparently given in fun, for both good and bad sports performance--or maybe just good. I did see Tiger Woods receive the award and, after raising it high in appreciation, plant a loving kiss on it's little furry cheek. It is a stuffed toy ferret mounted on a base which has spaces for the winners' names. Undoubtedly we will see numerous posts of others who have seen this amusing and gratifying (to ferret lovers) ceremony. I was interested to read about the many people who elect to do nothing about adrenal disease. This disturbs me since I love ferrets so much and, having run a shelter for 10 years, seek to do all I can to improve their health, wellbeing and lifespan. Once impacted with the disease, truly life is never the same for the ferret. Many other things seem to go wrong; often insulinoma, prostatic cysts (please don't ignore urinary dribbling--that is often the first sign of prostatic cyst) and other tumors. In doing adrenal tumor surgery, we have frequently encountered other problems which we were able to correct, and which certainly extended the happy life of the ferret (other tumors, liver cancer, and even lymphatic conditions which we were then able to treat more effectively). My question is, why not do the surgery if it is the only possibility for a cure or for life extension? I would also add, we have done some significant experimenting in the non-surgical treatment of adrenal disease which appears to have resulted in either remission or actual cure of the disease in certain animals. I would be glad to share our results and formulas with others in exchange for ongoing progress reports to add to our research. These treatments are vet approved and originated with our vet but can be accomplished at home with, so far, no side effects. They are specifically directed at females with enlarged vulva and no other symptoms such as hair loss (although early coat-thinning seems to be acceptable), and males with "mounting" and other agressive behavior (again no hair loss). We have not done many surgeries on our test cases because they have not had a return of symptoms. In one case, however, surgery revealed a right-sided tumor, but was only the size of 3 pin-heads. We did surgery because the ferret came into the shelter with extensive hair loss, which would indicate a large tumor. She had been under treatment at the shelter for 4 months before surgery. in any case, if the disease is to be treated, early intervention seems to produce the best results. If you are interested, please e-mail directly. Carolyn Kinsey Ferret Rescue of the Western States [Posted in FML issue 3157]