Dear Sue: >Says too, that the itch is not from allergic reaction..(as if I didn't >know that). He also warned me that he could become very agressive towards >the other ferrets in the cage. Told me to keep his nails short which I >already do. He told me that the itching is from "dry skin". Jonesys skin >does not appear to be dry. I asked some questions I wish I had not asked. >Seems like the tumors will spread to his little liver and finally to the >prostate. Actually, it sounds like your vet has a lot of the facts about adrenal disease, but doesn' have them correct. Itchiness is a common sign of adrenal disease in ferrets - if you treat the adrenal disease, it goes away. If you don't, you can expect him to have it continuously. REgarding adrenal tumors - the neoplasm only rarely spreads to the liver (and that is if you don't do surgery, as he is advising ) and NEVER go to the prostate - the prostatic changes are secondary to the estrogen that the tumor secretes, and not the result of tumor metastasis. >Says if the prostate becomes enlarged, we could put him on meds to shrink >it and then do some surgery, but prognosis is not good at that point and >that he could die while we wait for the prostate to shrink enough for the >surgery to be done.. He continues to discourage surgery..says you can >never get all the tumors on the pancreas so will only prolong things and >that they will continue to grow back.. It seems as if this particular vet is well-versed in what happens when you don't do surgery - he seems to have a lot of experience, and STILL doesn't recommend it?!! Adrenal surgery is the standard of care today and adds SO much to most ferrets lives. We can make this short - find a ferret vet who is willing to do the surgery and go for it. This vet is not helping Jonesy at all. With kindest regards, Bruce Williams, DVM [Posted in FML issue 3298]