I just wanted to comment on Regina's post about adrenal symptoms... We always hear of the psychological symptoms in male ferrets related to adrenal problems. I just wanted to point out that the females can have problems too. I nearly had to euthanize my girl Popcorn almost a year ago, entirely due to psychological issues. She was 7 years old (now 8), and was never the type to do any of the 'typical' ferret behavior of stashing things. Over a relatively short period of time, she became extremely driven to steal all of the socks and underwear out of the laundry and hide them. If you took them away, or tried to stop her, she would get VERY upset. She would even gently take my finger and try to drag ME into her hidey-spots. Endearing, but - for her - VERY wrong. Then, when Graham went into the hospital, she started scratching the gate to her room at all hours of the day and night. Again, extreme, driven, compulsive behavior. Way, way beyond normal mourning. She was 7 years old, adrenal, and insulinomic. There was absolutely no way that her health would have held out under this self imposed psychological and physical stress. I was devastated to think that I was going to have to euthanize this relatively healthy (physically) ferret to keep her from suffering. It was a terrible, terrible time. Ultimately, I decided to do whatever I could to keep Graham alive, hopefully at least helping the gate-scratching behavior. (He was having urine blockages due to adrenal - I was going to put him down, since he was inoperable and I couldn't bear the thought of him dying that way, suffering for hours first while I was at work. But, he was also in pretty bad shape physically compared to Popcorn.) Thanks to the wonderful Internet, they had already been down to Dr. Weiss for adrenal surgeries about 9 months or so prior to all this. So I called him again to see what could be done, and ended up in his Lupron study. We were very hopeful for Graham with the Lupron, but Dr. Weiss had never seen symptoms like Popcorn's, and warned me that it might not be adrenal at all. But, we gave it a try anyway (she also had obvious adrenal symptoms). Approximately 5 weeks later, just when I was thinking it wasn't going to work, within about 3 days the changes were dramatic. Both had thick fur growing in, and complete reversal of Popcorn's psychotic symptoms. Yay! Lupron gave Graham a GREAT 6 months. It doesn't sound like long, but it really is when it's your ferret who is still running around - and not just clinging to life, but actually healthy again! And, Popcorn is still going strong today. Even when Graham died, she didn't experience any of the same behaviors. I think her 2nd dose is about to run out. I've seen some thinning on her tail recently. But no return of the behaviors yet. So, if your little girls start exhibiting weird (for her) or 'maternal' behaviors, don't discount that there could be something very wrong. It may be endearing to be pulled by your finger into the hidey-hole, but it doesn't mean that she's suddenly expressing her love for the first time in 6 years, it means that she's not a happy little ferret. I suspect that these symptoms are largely ignored, since they are cute, stereotypically ferret, and more socially acceptable than the male's mating behavior. Or, I could be completely off-course, and Popcorn was just a bizarre exception. But, I really doubt that. Perhaps an extreme case, but I've heard of many other ferrets who have acquired similar behaviors in their geriatric years. Since I'm not as integrated into the ferret community as I used to be, I've never followed through with other owners to research if there is a link. But I do strongly suspect it, and am curious as to how often it occurs. So, how about a discussion... Those of you with female ferrets who, later in life, suddenly had dramatic behavior changes (good or bad) - What were the behaviors? And, was the ferret diagnosed as adrenal? If you treated the adrenals, medically or surgically, did the behaviors go away? Since I'm bound to get replies like "I've had 3 girls with adrenal tumors, none of them ever showed behavior changes." I'll address that now. Remember, not ALL of the males exhibit behavioral symptoms. (Graham certainly didn't) But it can happen. I'm curious if the same holds true with the females. - Nancy ----- Nancy Stephens [log in to unmask] Newark, DE [Posted in FML issue 2840]