Several people have questioned if historical records are accurate enough to decide that adrenal and insulinoma were rare until recent times. I'm going to agree with Bob on this one. Yes it is true (and APPALLING) that many vets even today do not recognize the symptoms of adrenal disease. But they (and their owners) DO see the hair loss, even if it is attributed to mite or fleas or even just old age. Dogs, cats and other domestic animals do not show the same hair loss patterns, so it IS something notable. If it were common, it would be noted. Even the Fox and Chuck Morton book written in 1985 describes NOTHING that would remotely sound like any of the symptoms of adrenal disease (or insulinoma for that matter). They say the typical life span is 8-11 years. (Sidenote: the Mortons recommended an ad lib kibbled diet.) Signs of insulinoma are often far more subtle: slowing down, sleeping more, etc. Seizures usually only occur in advanced cases, and it is possible that in the "olden days", animals were less likely to survive long enough to reach that stage. Or it was simply attributed to senility and old age. While is it possible that some cases of adrenal and insulinoma occurred back then, it just doesn't seem likely they happened anywhere near as frequently as today without being remarked upon. So SOMETHING (or things) have happened to turn these into common diseases. Bob says it's the ad lib kibbled diet. While I agree that may be a factor, I don't think he has satisfactorily ruled out lighting and neutering as major effects, and other possible contributing factors. Linda Iroff Oberlin OH [Posted in FML issue 3969]