Okay, I worded part of that eye post badly. By second I meant acute glaucoma. Infection or chemical damage are among other possible answers to the eye problem seen which also can cause enough pain to result in loss of appetite. Eye problems always need immediate vet appointments, I am afraid. They can go too wrong too fast otherwise, and not just for sight. The links will help find a specialist. Adrenal disease, insulinoma (w some added info beyond earlier pers com): The monk-like bald head top effect is not that often seen but very classically from adrenal disease as the cause when it does occur. Usually, if there is bilateral fur loss forward of the tail adrenal disease is the first thing to consider if fleas are not readily apparent. I have even heard of one or two ferrets whose fur loss wasn't bilateral but that is more unusual. Some vets are beginning to prefer Lupron, but it is not a strong trend. We'll see over time if that changes as more data is acquired. Those who seem to be having better results with Lupron seem to all (or most?) be in the North (usually pretty extreme North) and it has been suggested by some vets from elsewhere that the more sunlight then the less effective the Lupron vs. surgery. (Just one of the reasons that many vets who are not very North hope the U.S. will soon permit the right deslorelin implant.) Actually, one of the northern Lupron researchers, Dr. Cathy Johnson-Delaney, has been getting vets in some other areas try Lupron to see if it is anywhere near as as effective for them as it is for her, which is the right thing to do -- getting actual data and trying to be careful about methodology and other possible factors. Lupron can shrink hyperplasia (tissue overgrowth which can really undermine quality of life and can set the stage for some life- threatening complications) which is the most common type of adrenal growth but it has to be given tightly on schedule to do so, and some ferrets require a larger than normal dose. Meanwhile, for the malignant forms of adrenal disease it still appears to be a poor second choice after surgery, with variable effects. Usually, but not always, it is best to combine using a melatonin implant at the same time as using Lupron. If there is early insulinoma then catching it now has a chance of ending that disease for your ferret. When caught early with surgery we have had ferrets who never had insulinoma return. That is supported by a past study, as is the choice of surgical procedure: >J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. 1998 Nov-Dec;34(6):471-5. >Insulinoma in the ferret: clinical findings and treatment comparison >of 66 cases. >Weiss CA, Williams BH, Scott MV. includes >The mean disease-free intervals for each group were 22, 234, and 365 >days, respectively. The mean survival times for each group were 186, >456, and 668 days, respectively. Those groups (in order) were: medically, pancreatic nodulectomy, and pancreatic nodulectomy combined with a partial pancreatectomy Read also: http://www.afip.org/consultation/vetpath/ferrets/PDF/insulinoma.pdf http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG10123 >It is no secret - at least on this list, that I far prefer to do >surgery early on, and reserve medical treatment for non-surgical >candidates. > >It is inevitable that these ferrets will become refractory to the >prednsione over time, and then surgery will be required. However, at >that point they may have become non-surgical candidates. > >Surgery gives a 60% chance of cure if done early, and this number >decreases over time. The remaining 40% will develop additional >tumors within the next 10 moths, but that's the equivalent of a 10 >year interval for a human. > >With kindest regards, > >Bruce Williams, DVM Might as well do both at the same time if your vet is used to operating on ferrets, is a good surgeon, and if your ferret does not have any medical reasons like heart disease which would complicate matters. After a "certain age" (usually 5 or 6, always 7 or older, partly depending on critter's health) we always have hearts imaged before considering surgery. Be SURE to have a CBC and Chemistry Panel beforehand. If that testing finds some values too off then there might be a malignancy which has *already* spread and in that case it is usually best to go with meds instead of surgery. We've been there once with an adrenal growth (lymphoma) and twice with a pancreatic growth (one lymphoma, one carcinoma). It sounds like you and your vet have thought long and hard about this problem and that is the right thing to do, of course. [Posted in FML 6083]