Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In november of last year my 4 year old cinnamon ferret named Honey had become very lethargic and lost a tremendous amount of weight in the span of just a few days. I immediatelly took her to the vet. The vet checked her out and said she was probably fine, and gave me a so called "immune system booster" i gave this to her twice a day for a month. After keeping a close eye on her and giving her her medicine, she became much worse. She wouldnt eat much, she was extremely thin, with much muscle loss, she was grinding her teeth, losing hair between her shoulders and up her neck, and she also became VERY agrresive towards my other ferret Makita. Knowing something was terribly wrong I took her to a another vet. Come to to find out my worse dreams came true. She had adrenal gland diesease. And the so called "immune system booster" was nothing more then anti-vomiting medicine. She was not even vomiting. In a span of two monthes my little girl went from being healthy to haveing to be put to sleep. Just a quick note Adrenal Gland Diesease does not ALWAYS start at the base of the tail. Keep a eye on your little fuzz butts and go with your instincts.

It's true adrenal doesn't always start on the rump or that it even always causes hairloss. I'm sorry your baby died because some vet's ego wouldn't allow him to admit he wasn't competent to care for ferrets. Unfortunately it happens a lot. I took a couple of my kids to see a new vet one day. Scrappy had classic adrenal signs...hairloss on rump, rough/dry coat, aggression towards other ferrets, weight loss, etc. The idiot wanted to give him an allergy shot. I picked up the kids and left. We never even made it into the exam room. These days I call and quiz vets before I make an appointment.
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I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it.

Im sorry about your baby too. I was referred from my dogs vet, about this so called "good" ferret vet. Here I am thinking this medicine would work when really my baby was dieing. I had just never heard of a ferret with adrenal gland diesease with hair loss on her shoulders and neck, and of course my little girl had to have it. So I just wanted to let everyone know hair loss ANYWHERE can possibly be adrenal gland diesease not just at the base of the tail.

What a rotten vet.
Thank you for the warning. I hope you spread the word around town about that creep. That's like telling a cancer patient "Hmm, here, take some of these pills" and they turn out to be Dayquil. Have you confronted him, or do you think it would even do any good?

My 1st ferret to get an adrenal tumor had the shoulder hair loss. I knew that hair loss could be a sign. The only other symptom he had was being more active. He was up a lot more than his brothers, and I mean a lot. He had no other signs. My other boy didn't lose any hair, but he had a peeing problem. There are many different signs for adrenal tumors. I know hair loss is the main one, but it doesn't always happen and not always on the tail.
I'm really sorry about your ferret. You're learning though and spreading the word, so that really helps others.
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Kat
Ferret mom to Jasmine and Daffy
A Cheesehead from Wisconsin