Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i couldnt take him myself because i had to work so i sent my sister with him. he said he is very healthy for his age. said he is 6 or older. does not think he has adranel. yay! he said the tail being bald is most likly from the tumor he used to have on it, or from old age. kodo goes next week. im so happy he is healthy.

oh yeah, he also gave him a distemper shot and rabies shot.

Unfortunately a physical exam is not enough to rule out adrenal disease. An ultrasound needs to be done. Sorry but been there- done that- ferret had to have surgery. One of my ferrets is 6 yrs. old now and had to have emergency surgery (for a bladder infection resulting in a blockage) and he faired very well. It is the general health of the ferret that determines whether or not surgery is the treatment of choice- not age alone. This is true of any creature.... including humans.
Nancy

An ultrasound is a very expensive way to determine if a ferret has an adrenal tumor. Most adrenal cases are diagnosed based on symptoms alone. If the hair loss is only on the tail, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It could just be blocked hair follicles, clean the tail daily and see what happens. Some ferrets never lose any hair but usually you'll see bi-lateral hairloss somewhere on the body. If you're still concerned though, you can have a Tennessee Panel ran. It's a lot less expensive than an ultrasound and very effective at diagnosing adrenal disease.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

thank you i will try that if it does not improve i will give my vet another call. he seemed pretty certin he diddnt have it. so my sister says. now i really wish i was there.

Give your vet a call if it'll give you some peace of mind. Really though, a little rat tail isn't at all unusual during seasonal shedding. If the hairloss continues up the rump that is most likely adrenal.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

the tail is only bald about half way up the tail. i called him and he said that he thinks its from the tumor he had on the end of his tail. he had to have it cut off. so a little bit of the tail is gone. thanks everyone for all your help.

Well, I have had 3 ferrets with adrenal disease. I think that it is misleading to tell people that there's really no need to worry until the hair loss is "half way up their rump." One of my ferrets had no hair loss until the last day and it was body hair. By that time it was too late as hs prostate had enlarged so as to constrict the urethra and cause uremic poisoning in his body. His symptoms were extremely subtle until the last day when it was too late. He was only 4 yrs. old. The other 2 ferrets with adrenal disease had hair loss - first noticeable on their tails. They both had surgeries which saved their lives. So I just on't think it is wise to tell people who do not have alot of exterince with ferrets (which is usually why they are here in the 1st place) not to worry about their ferrets getting rat tails! But that's just imo!
Nancy

Well, if you didn't notice your little boy was straining to urinate then maybe you should spend a little more time with your ferrets. I think it's presumptuous of you to second guess a vet and suggest a very expensive test for an animal you haven't even seen. And in the future, if you're going to quote me, please do so accurately.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

As it is so often with people who presume to be the know all and be all of any subject they cannot accept any sharing of ideas or constructive criticism. I suggested an option and an effective one. And even with an ultrasound there is not a 100% sure diagnosis. I think it unwise NOT to ask questions and get 2nd opinions when something of this possible gravity is concerned! VMD does not translate to Veterinary Medical Doctor Divine! I was stating my experiences in an effort to explain why I was making the recommendations I did. After that any decision is up to the individual. It has always been my impression that that type of sharing of ideas and and experiences was what forums such as this one were for. To accuse me of not paying enough attentin or time with my ferrets being the cause of y ferrets death was unnecessary and cruel. I hope you do not have similar responses to others who are 1st time ferret owners, which I was at the time. And as I said- the symptoms were extremely subtle. Try to find some kindness and empathy in our heart for others. Try to keep your mind open to options other than what your experience has been. It will serve you well.
Bright Blessings! Nancy, Hocus Pocus & Hobbes

An adrenal tumor can be hard to tell by symptoms or tests. I've had 2 boys that had the tumor. The first one started losing his hair up along his back. We had the Tenn. panel done, but that showed nothing unusual. Then I had an ultrasoud done. They saw the left adrenal well and that looked clean, but they couldn't get a good view of the right now. Since he was really losing hair, the vet did an exploratory surgery and found it on his right gland. My 2nd boy didn't have any hair loss at all, but he would go running around from litter box to litter box to pee, but not much came out. The vet did 2 tests on his urine and nothing showed up. We did put him on antibiotics though. He called another vet and he said it sounded like adrenal. So an ultrasound was done and it was on his left gland. Surgery was done. Now this is the weird part. A week after surgery, Dandy started shedding like you wouldn't believe. I mean I was just pulling clumps out. When I took him in to have his stitches removed a week after that, he had a beautiful summer coat. The vet was really surprised. I've heard other ferret people don't bother with the Tenn. panel test. They just get the ultrasound. Now if nothing shows, but symptoms are still there (a lot of hair loss, the vulva swollen on the female, problems with peeing, aggressiveness) they will do surgery.
Last winter in January, my Daffy started losing a lot of her hair. In Feb. I was sure she had a tumor. But then her hair started growing back. Her coat was soft and beautiful. She really had me fooled. My other girl Jasmine loses the tail hair and some up her back every shedding season. She has done this for the 5 yrs I've had her.
Sometimes it can be very hard to tell if there's an adrenal tumor. If you notice any symptoms, keep a close eye on them. If they have 2 of the symptoms, get tests done. If the vulva is swollen on a female or the male is going to the litter box a lot, it most likely is an adrenal tumor.
Nancy, I know it can be hard to see signs of any disease. I lost my ferret Willow this past July to cancer. She had a physical in June with bloodwork because she had a tooth pulled. Everything came out fine. 3 wks later I noticed she wasn't her usually peppy self. I took her to the vet, had xrays and there were tumors all over inside. It can happen so fast. I'm just thankful she didn't suffer long.
Bloodroses, I'm glad everything is looking good. My hubby and son have on occassion taken one of my ferrets to the vet for me because I've had to work. My son writes things down, but hubby forgets. I call the vet to make sure they got things right.
Have fun with your new furballs!
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Kat
Ferret mom to Jasmine and Daffy
A Cheesehead from Wisconsin

Thank you, Kat. I know this to be true, also - esp. for new ferret owners. Very kind!
Nancy

I'm def starting to see why not many people post on this forum. I do not presume to know everything about ferrets, I learn something new about them almost daily. I spend a lot of time researching health issues and have assisted my vet on more than twice the number of adrenal surgeries than you have dealt with. I don't consider the inability to urinate, aggression, mating behavior in neutered ferrets, or excessive grooming of other ferrets & humans to be subtle signs of adrenal, they are big red warning signs. I had one little girl who's only sign was that she smelled adrenal. My vet thought I was a bit nuts but he agreed to an exploratory and we found a large, aggressive, malignant tumor.

You need to improve your reading comprehension. The ferret that was posted about had a chordoma removed from his tail. Consequently that tail was most likely shaved for the surgery thus the reason there is no hair on it. It may not come back until the next shed or it may not come back at all. There is absolutely no reason for an ultrasound and to me, "Unfortunately a physical exam is not enough to rule out adrenal disease. An ultrasound needs to be done" does not sound like a suggestion but more like an imperative. You should also keep in mind that not all vets have ultrasounds and that in many areas they are more expensive than the actual surgery. If you want to waste your money, go right ahead. I really don't care. I prefer to do surgery when I see signs of adrenal however subtle those signs may be.

As far as my empathy, it's reserved for the poor boy who died a painful death because his not being able to relieve himself was too "subtle" for you to see.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.