>I have a ferret that is approximately 4 years old.... Several months ago, >he was diagnosed with adrenal problems via the Tenn. Panel test. His tail >was balding, he became very "fat", fat sacks hanging from under his little >arms and from under his back legs. He is still gaining weight, now >waddleing around. My vet, gave him a Lupron shot in hopes that we might >see some good from it. There was no visable evidence of any change in >Norton's condition. The doctor has examined him and we have discussed his >condition several times. I do not feel that Norton would make it through >surgery and the doctor is also hesitant regarding surgery because he fears >that he would not be a good candidate due to all of the fat that he has, >his age, etc.... He eats, drinks, urinates and has bowel movements that >look fine. 4 years old, eating, drinking, and pooping well - just fat - I guess I am not seeing a major contraindication for adrenal surgery here. Now you don't mention any bloodwork results that may show that he has some systemic illness, but on the light of this info, I ceratinly would not rule out surgery. Yes, fat does make the technical part of the surgery more difficult - adrenals are very difficult to find in fat ferrets, but fat ferrets are not necessarily poor surgical candidate. And 4 is really not old - many of us do surgery on 7 year olds, if they are otherwise healthy. Remember that Lupron may result in hair regrowth and increased activity, but it doesn't result in a cure, or even a slowed progression of an adrenal hyperplasia or neoplasm. Surgery for a 4-year-old animal is still the best option. With kindest regards, Bruce Williams, DVM [Posted in FML issue 3203]