# Urgent Needed: Adrenal Advice for UK Ferrets



## Cathie (Mar 17, 2013)

Im looking for as much advice possible regarding Adrenal Disease.

I rehomed a Jill 2 months ago, which is by far not long enough from the horrible news I received today! 

I got her from a shelter where her history wasnt really too clear. She had a few previous owners who all didnt have time to look after her. 
I got her as a playmate for my boy (as he is scared of other ferrets at the moment for used to being on his own), she was calm and gentle but also likes a play and tumble so I thought the best match, though Ive still yet got to get my boy to relax a little more! 
He gets excited when he sees her, just a bit weary when they face to face!

From the start she had little fur on her stomach and tail was starting to go bald. I suspected Adrenal disease but decided to keep her as I want to give her comfort and the best for the rest of the life she has, I had a gut feeling that was what was wrong, but wasnt going to give up on her like everyone else.

The lady at the shelter reckons she is aged between 3-4 years and one of my vets (not my usual one) reckoned the same. However, my usual vet reckons she may be possible a lot older. 

I can try get a photo of her teeth if this would enable someone to help me work her age out?

I went to the vets about her condition and was told to give it a while and check if the fur came back; wasnt sure whether it was just the shelter conditions she lived in. The fur never came back. This week Ive had blood tests, xrays and ultrascans for her which has confirmed adrenal disease. With approx. 6-7months left to live, which kills me &#61516;
The tumour is around 3.80cm and in between her two kidneys. Theyve both been pushed apart from each other. She has a slight swelling in the stomach area, but vulva is fine and hasnt really got a pot belly at the moment. Also doesnt show any signs of pain or discomfort. Though she does sleep a lot. But I thought this might be down to age?

The blood tests also came back with everything showing as very high. Ive attached a photo of this to show her results.

Vets dont recommend operating as they fear it will push her into Kidney Failure and instance death. They also reckon removing it may not solve the problem as it can come back.

There are injections that can help with the cosmetic appearances and stop her licking so much (She licks people/skin constantly, like she needs it to survive, and a lot of drinking too) but I dont want her going through injections if it just cosmetic. As long as shes not in any pain from losing the fur, then I dont see the point.

But regardless of operating, injections, or doing nothing, Ive been told 6 months of life left.

I was wondering if anyone has any other option advice?
I live in London, UK. And although my vet is an exotic vet, they are not ferret specialists so not too clued up on medicines available.
Apparently there are not many treatments available for ferret adrenal in the uk but I cant believe this?

I just want to give my little girl as much life as possible. I cant imagine her being gone in 6 months, if that --

Ive also attached her xray and ultrascan results, not too clear Im afraid, but they show the kidney positions and the tumour.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you xx


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## DKDREAM (Sep 15, 2008)

Hi, sorry to hear about your girl,

Has she been spayed? do you know? as sometimes older jill ferrets can get cancer of the ovaries witch results in hair loss (like adrenal) and they obviously wont come into season and will appear neutered. 

Once you know this i can help more.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

So sorry to hear she has Adrenal disease, I have a dog with cushings which is similar, she has done very well for over 2 years on Vetoryl which suppresses the over production and all symptoms have disappeared and her elevated blood results have all come down with treatment. I wasn't sure if it could be used with any success on Ferrets or not, but on checking unfortunately it doesn't work.

Surgery does seem the preferred treatment of choice.

Non surgical options seem to be Lupron depot injections which I think is what you may be reffering too? It says it may shrink the tumour but most cases only does affect the symptoms.

Melatonin in conjunction with Lupron depot either orally or implant seems to be another non surgical option, Melatonin stops the pituatory releasing hormones that stimulate the adrenal glands, so without stimulation they don't overproduce.

From what I can gather the two together seem to suppress the adrenal function, which sounds like what the vetoryl does in my dog. She cant be cured but it has controlled the cushings and symptoms for over two years.

The link also gives further advice on the surgical options.

You may have seen it already or know about the melatonin, but just in case I will link you it seems a pretty good site for info into adrenal disease in ferrets.
I found it by accident when checking if vetoryl could be used in ferrets with the same success as in dogs.

All-About-Ferrets.com - Adrenal Disease in Ferrets: Causes, Signs, Treatment & P

There seems another couple of good sites on advice about adrenal disease in ferrets and treatment too, in case you haven't seen those either.

Furkids - Adrenal Disease Treatment in the UK

Only other suggestion, is that as it doesn't seem to be that uncommon, searching for and maybe joining a specific ferret forum might be a good bet to see if you can get any practical and personal experience on the subject.


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## Cathie (Mar 17, 2013)

She has been spayed from what i've been told and i haven't seen any symptoms of being in heat.

I've had a look into Lupron and DES implants and it does seem the way to go. I just didn't want to have to give her monthly injections because i don't think it's fair on her, and wasn't proven to help her live any longer anyways. 
But with the implants they are yearly which isn't so bad and the price isn't too bad either.

I'm personally not bothered about the symptoms, such as fur loss, if it don't affecting her personally or her health. I would like to control it more though and hopefully stop the tumor spreading so fast to give her a little longer. She does seem a perfectly healthy ferret otherwise.

I have joined a few forums and been hassling a few people on advice. Just abit panicky at the moment and don't want her to pass knowing that i did nothing to try!

I've managed to get an appointment for this Friday at a exotic specialists so hopefully they can advise me more and know of ways to help!


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Cathie said:


> She has been spayed from what i've been told and i haven't seen any symptoms of being in heat.
> 
> I've had a look into Lupron and DES implants and it does seem the way to go. I just didn't want to have to give her monthly injections because i don't think it's fair on her, and wasn't proven to help her live any longer anyways.
> But with the implants they are yearly which isn't so bad and the price isn't too bad either.
> ...


Hope the exotic specialist will be able to give you more help and advice on the best way to proceed with her.

With my dog whos symptoms are controlled with vetoryl, it isn't just a matter of controlling the symptoms, but also controlling the problem that has other knock on health problems associated with it. Hers cant be cured as I mentioned either, but with the vetoryl she is a lot more health problem free all round, so it does have health benefits and is not just cosmetic as far as symptoms go.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

I took a boy (fonzi) back recently, having been involved in his rescue in February. He had been doddery for a while but the previous owners vet had put that down to age (he's 6-7 years), however he was deteriorating fast and I was facing loosing him within weeks of taking him on, he was struggling to swallow properly, sleeping an awful lot and he stopped eating apart from what I could syringe into him and when he could walk he was flopping over to one side . After speaking to the ferret whisperer  (DKDREAM) he suggested that fonzi might have adrenal. 
I went straight back to the vet and after a few appointments she confirmed it, we got him straight onto prednisone (sp) and within hours he was up playing, eating like a horse and had the spark back in his eyes. That was two months ago, now he has to have the pred twice a day, he's on approximately half the maximum dose and he's coping. When he starts to flag again he will need the dose increasing.
I've also been given an approximate lifespan of 6 months but he's coping really well now and enjoying the time he has left.
From what I was told you can operate on the tumour but its highly likely that there will be smaller tumours growing already, they will eventually increase which would resulting further surgeries and my vets opinion was that it wasn't fair on him.


Can you be 100% certain that your girl is neutered? The reason DKDREAM was asking about her being speed is the tumour would roughly be in the same region as her ovaries so could be easily confised, and a tumour on ferrets ovaries can mimic the same symptoms as adrenal.


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## Cathie (Mar 17, 2013)

The question i have with my girl about adrenal is she doesn't have the obvious adrenal signs.
Her vulva is fine, no enlargement at all that you would expect for a jill with adrenal or who is in heat.

She eats and goes to the toilet fine by herself. She does drink a bit, but only a tiny more than my boy. He would have quarter of a bottle a day, she would have half for instance. 

Her tail is thinning at the tip but this could be to season coat?

Her tummy was bare when i got her, and doesn't appear to have any fur wanting to come back at all. But i've been told this could be from the conditions she lived in and also from getting in and out of the cage (rubbing)
Rest of her fur is fluffy and appears normal.

Her energy appears fine for her age.

Ultrascan did show a tumour of 3.80cm approx in between her kidneys near her adrenal glands. And the blood results show her kidneys are failing. So she does have a tumour of some sort, just not sure whether it's actually adrenal.

I've been told that whether we operate, give her injections etc it will still be a 6 month lifespan. Operating is high risk and they're worried it'll push her into kidney failure and die instant, they also reckon that removing the tumor may only be temporary cause it can come back again.

My girl appears well in herself at the moment, but i don't want to give up on her and then lose her 6 months down the line when i could have possibly done something to help prolong her life.


x


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## Cathie (Mar 17, 2013)

Just a quick update. 
Went to the exotic specialists today and feeling slightly more positive after the visit.

Have had another blood sample taken and this time tested for ferret adrenal. Not always 100% positive but want an idea whether we are dealing with adrenal or something else. Should have the results in 5 days, hopefully sooner as he has put them through as urgent.

We'll then discuss whether worth doing a bi-op to test whether the tumor is cancerous or not and then decide from there.
If Cancerous, he doesn't reckon worth operating as the cells could have already spread elsewhere so would be pointless. But can do chemotherapy or DES/Lupron implant to help control the tumor.

It non cancerous, then he would recommend to operate to remove the tumor and hopefully stop everything altogether, though obviously it can return. 

He's done quite a fair amount of adrenal operations before and is confident with them and has a great team. His main concern is blood loss throughout the op and won't continue if he feels that once he's opened her up, she is at high risk (if the tumor has infected a blood vessel for instance)

So just waiting to hear back from the blood results before i make the decision really! Bit nervous about the op so will need a good indepth discussion on that.

Took Lumen to their play paddock afterwards and she had a good run around and dig. She's doing well, being brave!


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Cathie said:


> Just a quick update.
> Went to the exotic specialists today and feeling slightly more positive after the visit.
> 
> Have had another blood sample taken and this time tested for ferret adrenal. Not always 100% positive but want an idea whether we are dealing with adrenal or something else. Should have the results in 5 days, hopefully sooner as he has put them through as urgent.
> ...


The visit to the specialist seems to have been well worth it and at least you know all the possible options now.

Hope you don't have to wait too long for the results so that you know how best to go from there.


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## Cathie (Mar 17, 2013)

Lumen had her operation on Monday and i'm so happy to say it went well. 
A large mass was removed, the biggest my vet has removed from a ferret, he was surprised!

Took her two hours to wake which was worrying, and two days later she came home. On pain killers and antibiotics at the moment but she's doing really well. 

I go back on Tuesday for a check up and get the biop results to find out if the cells were cancerous or not. Fingers crossed they aren't.

But i'm pleased with progress so far and hopefully she'll have a longer healthier life with me!


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Cathie said:


> Lumen had her operation on Monday and i'm so happy to say it went well.
> A large mass was removed, the biggest my vet has removed from a ferret, he was surprised!
> 
> Took her two hours to wake which was worrying, and two days later she came home. On pain killers and antibiotics at the moment but she's doing really well.
> ...


Wishing her a speedy recovery and hoping the biopsy comes back clear.


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## DKDREAM (Sep 15, 2008)

That is great news, where was the mass in her? was she spayed did they say? I hope she has a speedy recovery.


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## Cathie (Mar 17, 2013)

Yeah she is spayed, and the mass was on the left side, near the left kidney, but was so large it was stretching across her stomach and nearly invaded the vena cava.

Biop results came back today, unfortunately she has a rare type of cancer that isn't curable.
It appears to have already started to attack her blood vessels and could be elsewhere, my vet couldn't see anything bad while operating but could be microscopic if anything has started.

I'm going to get her implanted to hopefully give her a better quality of life and potentially stop any non-cancerous cells.
I've been told hopefully a years life for her, possibly longer but small chance.

She's done well so far, and i'm glad i tried the op at least. It did remove a large mass and hopefully given her a bit more comfort and time. She's alot more energetic now which is a good thing in my eyes.

Thanks for all your help and advice guys, means a lot x


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## DKDREAM (Sep 15, 2008)

Oh that is such sad news, that she has cancer after all she has battled through. Bless her and you.

I hope she has a year left of good happy times with you and you both get to build some special memories.


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