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Perry's a 5 1/2 year old ferret who's lost a significant amount of hair just in the last week. It's mainly on the base of the tail (but not the tail) and a strip running down his belly. It's so bad you can easily see his skin underneath. His energy, appetite, and litter box are okay. I can't find anything out of the ordinary other than this. The hair on his tail has been thinning for about a year now, the vet said this was normal for a ferret his age. We're seeing the vet later today. Does anyone have any idea what this might be?

That def sounds like adrenal hair loss. Does he have any other symptoms? Is he being aggressive towards other ferrets, grooming you a lot, lethargic, losing weight? I'd have him checked out by a ferret knowlegable vet soon. However, if you see him start straining to urinate, get him in asap.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

That's the thing. His energy level, behavior, feces, etc. are all unchanged. He's not showing anymore aggression than usual, not grooming our other ferret more than usual. It's hard to tell with litter boxes about the straining to urinate. I'll keep an eye out.
The vet rescheduled the appointment to Friday. We'll see then.
I thought with adrenal disease the hair loss was on the tail. Perry's hair loss is all around his tail and a strip running the length of his belly.

Bi-lateral hairloss on any part of the body is indicative of adrenal disease. The most common places are the rump, shoulder blades, belly, and top of the head. Check his nipples too, if they're red and swollen it's def adrenal. Also, smell him. Adrenal ferrets will sometimes have an ammonia type smell to them. Sometimes the symptoms of adrenal can be very subtle. My first ferret only had hairloss on the bottoms of her feet but she had large tumors on both glands.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

Like WeaselLuvr said, the hair can be on the back too. One of my boys had lost his hair on his back. It thinned out quite a bit. He never got aggressive with his brothers though. He had a lot of energy, in fact it seemed like he had more energy. He was up and running around more than usual. My other boy didn't lose any hair until after he had his surgery. Then in a week it just came off in clumps. He didn't get bald, but he got his summer coat. His 1st symptom was going to the bathroom a lot. He'd go from box to box and then dribble a little. The vet gave him some antibiotics because we thought he had a urinary tract infection. It did seem to help....for a only a 1 1/2 months though. Then he started doing that again. He also started to groom his one brother a lot and he got more aggressive with his other brother. So we had an ultrasound done and found a tumor. He had surgery right away and that cleared up his problems.
Good luck on your boy and let us know what happens.
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Kat
Ferret mom to Jasmine and Daffy
A Cheesehead from Wisconsin

I'm going to the vet later tonight but it looks more and more like adrenal disease. For the last couple of months, Perry's coat has been getting dry and brittle, another syptom.
If surgery is recommended, what can you tell me about your ferret's experience with it? Recovery, discomfort, cost,etc.?

We got back from the vet earlier tonight. The vet took a culture to test for ringworm but states there is a 90% chance this is adrenal disease. He states medication is probably the best treatment. Any thoughts?

Medication? Does he mean Lupron? From the people I've talked to, and what I've read, they give that to ferrets who can't have surgery because of health reasons...too risky for surgery. Imho, if your ferret is healthly otherwise, I would go for surgery. My 1st boy that had adrenal had a tumor on the right gland...trickier to get rid of. They were able to get about 95% of the tumor. Basil had surgery when he was 4 1/2 yrs old. He lived to the ripe old age of 7 1/2 yrs without it ever bothering him again. When Basil was 5 he had a hairball removed. They also removed his spleen because it didn't look right. Never had any problems without it. His adrenal surgery was higher than usual because at that time I had to go to the animal emergency hospital where the costs were higher. Dandy had his surgery 6 months after Basil. His tumor affected his prostate gland where he had problems going to the litter box. His was on the left gland. His surgery was done by my regular vet. Basil's was $800 and Dandy's was $300. A big difference there, but Basil needed a surgeon who could do the right gland. Now a days, a lot of vets will do both glands. Dandy needed surgery again after 1 yr. He lived for 1 1/2 yrs after the 1st surgery. The vast majority of this time he was in good health and active. I don't reget any of the surgeries I got for my boys. The quality time both had afterwards was good. Dandy had an aggressive cancer that just spread. Basil didn't. I'm going to be taking one of my girls, Jasmine, to my vet a week from Sat. I think she has an adrenal tumor. She just turned 7, but you would never believe it. She's very active and healthly. So if she does have a tumor, I'll have the surgery...unless her blood tests aren't good, then I'll talk to the vet about Lupron.
Let us know how things go.
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Kat
Ferret mom to Jasmine and Daffy
A Cheesehead from Wisconsin

The medication info from several years ago states this is a bad option. However, current stuff states this is more of an option. Have medications gotten more affective in the last several years?
Perry's 5 1/2 and had surgery 4 years ago for a swallowed volleyball valve.

Lupron (esp. in conjunction with a melatonin implant) is very effective in controlling symptoms in non-malignant tumors. In some cases it will even shrink the tumor, at least initially. However, if your ferret is a good surgical candidate and still fairly young, I'd opt for the surgery. The medications are not curative, they just mask the symptoms, surgery is. If the tumor is malignant Lupron may have no effect at all. Also, financially you're better off with surgery esp. if your ferret is only 5 or 6. In a year's time, possibly less, you will have paid as much for meds as you would have for the surgery.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

I think surgery is the better of the 2 also...as long as your ferret is healthly otherwise.
Good luck and let us know how things go.
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Kat
Ferret mom to Jasmine and Daffy
A Cheesehead from Wisconsin