Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have 3 ferrets. my girl doesnt turn 2 until october and im already scared that she might have adrenal disease. shes geting really skinny and her hair is geting very thin. she looks like shes losing hair on her tail as well. i got notes from the vet that her and her brother are due for more distemper shots. is there a test the vets do to test for adrenal disease? im definetly more scared of losing my ferret but i dont have a whole lot of money right now so does any one know is this may be super expensive to test for and fix/if she even has it? thanks for your help

Although adrenal disease at 2 yrs. isn't unheard of it is unusual. It's more likely that your ferret is blowing it's coat. Several of mine are doing that right now and they look pretty scraggly. Either way you need to give extra laxatone because of the hair loss. At this point I'd take a wait and see approach and see what my vet thinks. There is a test for adrenal called the Tennessee Panel but it's not cheap and a good vet should be able to diagnose AD on the symptoms alone.
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Also check the tail very closely and see if there looks to be blackheads on the tail. Ferrets get blackheads as well and it can make them lose the hair on their tail.