The original question was not whether a specific individual had adrenal disease, it was because the poster had read a website which said that adrenal disease is a problem only of neutered ferrets, but the poster recalled reading past posts about whole ferrets with adrenal disease. So, what the question was, was this (paraphrased): Can adrenal disease occur in whole ferrets? Well, it can and it has. Biopsies of the removed organs make that abundantly clear. Now, is it possible for people to confuse heat or rut with adrenal disease? Of course. Anyone who has ever read any of the many pages that point out that in many ways adrenal disease echoes what happens at those times knows that. So, if a ferret's background is unknown (or if the spaying or altering surgery was only partial) a vet going in for an adrenal might instead find reproductive tissue. Still, in answer to whether whole ferrets can get adrenal disease. Yes, they can, just as some FML and FHL members have encountered, and just as Dr. Ruth Heller found when she operated on that little girl. So, when there are symptoms of heat or rut perhaps it also makes sense to have a look-see at the adrenals in some of those individuals, esp. if there is reason to question if there really is heat or rut, depending on the vet's take on the individual. Hey, both things can happen... Biopsies make that obvious. In an intact ferret usually the obvious cause in a whole individual for the symptoms will occur, but life does have its little surprises. -- Sukie (not a vet) Ferret Health List co-moderator http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth FHL Archives fan http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ replacing http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org International Ferret Congress advisor http://www.ferretcongress.org [Posted in FML issue 5120]