Some of you may have been following my posts on my recent rescue ferret, Sprite. So I thought I would send an update. She went in today for adrenal surgery and Insulinoma. I just got a call from our vet. He said that she had a huge, ugly black tumor on her right adrenal gland that was growing into her liver. He was able to completely remove this mass without her having any major bleeding problems. The left adrenal was normal. He could find no evidence of tumors in the pancreas, but took some biopsies. Her spleen was huge (knew this prior to the surgery) and had a huge tumor on it. He called it a hemangiosarcoma. He admits that he is not terribly knowledgeable about these tumors in ferrets. He knows they are bad news in dogs. He is sending it off for further analysis. He said there is a possibility it could be a hemangioma, which I gather is a better diagnosis than hemangiosarcoma (at least in dogs). Sprite seems to have come throught the surgery okay, and he is taking her home with him tonight to keep an eye on her. He said he would call me again this evening and keep me posted on her progress. In this case, I went against the normal recommendation and did not use the most ferret-knowledgeable vet in our area. I have done quite a bit of calling and checking around and have come to the conclusion that in Greenville, SC, (to the best of my knowledge), there is only one veterinarian that is very ferret knowledgeable, and I have used him once before. However, I was not very impressed with him or his office staff. My old vet (one I always took our dogs to), while not a ferret expert, is a wonderful veterinarian who always goes the extra mile. Both have performed adrenal surgeries for me and there was less scarring, bruising and a better looking incision when my old vet did it. You can tell he went into his profession because of his love and concern for animals. While he is not a ferret expert, he is very willing to try to learn more about them. He has even indicated that he likes ferrets and has considered getting one himself. He is known for being very good with cats. He told me today that he was going to do some research to learn more about hemangiosarcomas in ferrets. I feel like I made the right decision in getting him to do the surgery. Just keep little Sprite in your prayers. During the 3 weeks I've had her, I've been able to fatten her up a good bit with duck soup feedings. So I think she was in pretty good shape prior to the surgery (all things considered). For those of you that have given me advice since I adopted her, I wanted to thank you and fill you in on the latest developments. I also was hoping some of you would know something about hemangiosarcomas in ferrets. I need to get on the Ferret Health mailing list, but in the meantime, would appreciate any information anyone can give me. Thank You all, Holly Tigger, Pooh & Sprite [Moderator's note: FHL subscription info sent. BIG] [Posted in FML issue 3659]