Dr Williams: I want to thank you for writing regarding my post. Knowing that you're not feeling well and still took the time to post makes me appreciate it even more. I respect your opinion very much, and if you feel the need to "bash" my vet (Dr. King) for his actions, I very much want to hear it, because I only want the best for my ferrets. I can't deny that I was hoping Dr. King was doing the right thing, especially since finding ferret-knowledgeable vets around here is almost impossible, but one of the reasons I post about visits to the vet is so that I can hear from the FML whether he is a good ferret vet or not. Guess I found out he's not such a good ferret vet. About the vetalog. It may have prevented a reaction (perhaps not - Templeton might not have reacted this time around), but the vetalog may have actually made the vaccine ineffective? This really upsets me! Here I put my trust in a vet, and he does something he should know better than do! For the record, this was a one-time incident - Templeton has never received a vetalog injection before this. You say that the distemper vaccine "should" take effect in this case. Should I have Templeton re-vaccinated just to be safe, or wait until next year? About the ivermectin. Dr. King did mention mites (and something else that escapes me) when he said there was something he could give Templeton to relieve the itch. He didn't do a skin scrape or do anything more than look through the hair (not difficult, since Templeton's coat is pretty sparse about now), and he took a closer look at his skin. The impression I got was that the ivermectin would probably relieve the itch, no matter what the cause, and apparently felt there was no harm in giving him a dose. He asked me to let him know how Templeton did over the next couple of weeks as far as whether his itching was helped by the ivermectin. So far, it has, but if the itch is due to adrenal, what's a better treatment (besides the obvious: surgery). Would any ointments (or something else) work? I don't believe Dr. King actually diagnosed Templeton as having Cushing's Disease, but he mentioned that. (He mentioned dogs in the same breath, but he lost me on the whole conversation at this point - I was only half paying attention once I knew he wouldn't be able to diagnose or treat adrenal.) Sounds like he thinks Templeton has Adrenal because of his symptoms, but wasn't sure because of the hair coming back on his tail, and he doesn't have the means to do an ultrasound at his facility. From what folks around here have told me, they think highly of this vet for their cats and dogs, and he apparently has seen lots of ferrets in his practice over the years, but he refers possible adrenal cases to Cornell University for diagnosis and surgery. My choices around here are sorely limited, and I'm really in a quandary over what to do. I have no contact with any ferret owners in my area, although I think there are a few around, so have no idea if they've been able to find a good ferret vet in this area. If you (or anyone!) know of any good ferret vet within a two-hour drive of here, I'll probably go to him/her! (Where do you practice, Dr. Williams? I wish my ferrets were coming to you!!) One correction: Templeton hasn't actually been officially diagnosed with Adrenal disease. I'm pretty sure that's what he has, and was hoping to find a vet who could confirm it. I wish I could find someone willing to take a blood sample to send for the U of TN panel, or that could perform an ultrasound to determine if Templeton is a good surgical candidate. Or is it just better to open him up? Templeton's symptoms: late November/early December, he suddenly lost all the hair on his tail except for a thin strip at the top, and within about a week, he lost most of the hair all along both flanks. His coat has never been very thick or soft (it's always been course/dry and thin for the three years I've had him - he was about two when I got him). He doesn't seem to have lost hair along the neck, shoulders, ears, or toes. He does seem heavier with a fuller abdomen, but I don't know his pre-symptom weight so I can't be sure (previous vet never weighed the ferrets, or did much of anything with them). Templeton's quite often aggressive toward our smallest female, where he's gotten along with everyone before now. Almost overnight, in January Templeton's tail hair grew back - his tail looks better than it ever has - but the hair on his flanks is still quite thin. A key event happened at our house about the same time as Templeton's loss of tail hair: I brought home an eight-week old ferret the day after Thanksgiving. I could attribute his aggression toward the female as misplaced aggression toward the baby (they aren't allowed contact, because he literally attacks the baby whenever he's given the opportunity), but I don't think all his other symptoms can be blamed on the new ferret, can they? Is this all a coincidence, or does this really sound like Adrenal? I really wish I knew what to do for Templeton, or where to take him for help. Debbie Brae, Templeton, Sally, Phoebe and Klondike [Posted in FML issue 3328]