From: Lynn McIntosh [faiml@uswest.net] Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 6:24 PM To: FAIMLanon; FAIML Subject: FAIML #303; June 18, 1999 Ferret Adrenal/Insulinoma Mailing List (FAIML) #303; June 18, 1999 1. Update on possible Lympho/adrenal 2. Swollen vulva hair loss 3. Jasmine is gone 4. update 5. Sunshine 6. Odie! 7. Question for a vet TO POST: Write POST at the end of your subject heading (the more specific you can be in your subject heading, the better) and send to . URGENT POSTS: If you feel the message is urgent please mark it POST URGENT and I'll send it out to subscribers as soon as I can, then include the message in the next list. CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS: Please write POST ANONYMOUS after your subject heading if you don't want your address or last name published. SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE: Just use the one address for posts, subscription questions, requests, cancellations, comments, etc. The list is run by hand so just send me an e-mail. ADRENAL/INSULINOMA WEBSITE: FAIML ARCHIVES/PHOTOS: Past FAIMLs are being archived, with a search feature, on Michael Janke's adrenal/insulinoma web site: . Michael is also kindly posting pictures of FAIML subscribers and the ferrets at this site in the FAIML Album. Check out his site for more info. PAM GREENE's FERRET FAQs: I suggest people read (and reread) Pamela Greene's Disease FAQ's on Insulin and Adrenal diseases, as they offer a good background. I forward them to all new subscribers, and will gladly send them upon request. I also send the "Disease Package", a file that tells how to get all six of Pamela Greene's FAQs on ferret diseases. Pam also has excellent FAQ's about general ferret care as well, and a link to these may be found on the FERRET CENTRAL web site: . THE FERRET MAILING LIST (FML): The FML has 3,000+ ferret-loving subscribers and the topic is simply ferrets, ferrets, and more ferrets. Moderated by Mr. Bill Gruber, it's a good source of ferret entertainment and information. Visit FERRET CENTRAL on the web (see paragraph above) for more info on the FML. To subscribe to the FML, send email to its moderator, Bill Gruber, at and ask to be added. You can also try subscribing automatically by sending email to with the command SUBSCRIBE FERRET in the body of the email. 1. Subject: Update on possible Lympho/adrenal From: "Kelly Cameron" Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 11:51:15 -0700 First off, just want to give my condolences to all who have lost their fuzzies in the past few days. Yesterday's FAIML was truely heart wrenching. Thought I would give you an update on the little 4 year old shelter ferret I thought might have lymphoma and adrenal. Well, took your advice and didn't just go along with the vets visual diagnosis, had a biopsy done, and it came back "fatty tumors" so no lymphoma. So now he is scheduled for adrenal surgery next Weds. Please wish him luck, by the way his name is Garth. Julie 2. Subject: Swollen vulva hair loss From: "Donald Dittman" Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 16:46:59 -0700 Hi everyone, I just adopted a little stray. I have no idea of her age. She had run in to a porcupine, had quills all over which the people who found her pulled out and was covered with fleas. She had been kept on a diet of carrots and grapes by the well meaning people who found her. Needless to say she is not in the best shape. The vet is not sure if she needs surgery or not and it can't be considered anyway until she puts on some weight. My question is this: She has a very swollen vulva, about the size of a dime and really pouched out. She also has hair loss on her shoulders which looks as if it's been there a while. The skin has that leathery look it gets. No hair loss anywhere else though. The vet put her on amoxi drops for a week and I added some pet tinic to her diet. She does not want to eat the ferret food and goes crazy when she sees cheerios. I tried her on four different types of food and none really interest her. She will eat a little purina kitten chow which I know isn't good but has to be better than nothing and I won't give her any cheerios or other junk type treats right now. Does the vulva and hair loss always mean adrenal disease? My one ferret had advanced hair loss and a swollen vulva and she did have surgery for a pea sized tumor. I was hoping this one might only have picked up an infection being on her own. Please let me know what you think. I've named her Molly and we love her already. Laurel 3. Subject: Jasmine is gone From: Clare Sebok Date: Sat, 19 Jun 1999 00:44:17 -0400 (EDT) Jasmine Sebok June 1995 - June 18, 1999 Jasmine, our four-year-old dark-eyed white ferret, died last night of post-operative complications. She stopped breathing shortly after midnight on June 18th. Jasmine joined our family as a four-month-old kit. We got her to be a friend for Bridgett, a ferret we had rescued six months earlier. Our other ferrets, Ben, Jerry, and Buttercup, had refused to accept Bridgett for many months and were very mean to her. We thought Bridgett needed a friend, and Jasmine was at a local pet shop, getting bigger and still not chosen. Jasmine helped our ferrets become integrated as one family. Since she was still a kit, she was accepted fairly quickly, and her presence somehow helped the others to accept Bridgett. Jasmine was full of energy and loved to crawl under the cage carpet, knocking over all the food bowls in the process. We called this a "Jasmine attack." She could dig in the litter box until it was nearly empty. She loved to climb on furniture, and she scaled a bookcase to reach the top of a file cabinet where ferret supplies were kept. Jasmine was the first to discover how to pry open the connecting tube between the two cages and let everyone escape. Once we came home and found apples and potting soil all over the kitchen floor, and five ferrets merrily exploring the house. Jasmine loved squeaky toys. When we visited Bill's mom in Ohio, Jasmine loved to take dog toys and hide them under the couch. Jasmine was a very photogenic ferret. We have many wonderful pictures of her, including some that capture her exuberant dance of joy. You can see them in her page (still under construction) at URL http://www.astro.umd.edu/ferrets/jasmine/ . Jasmine was a beautiful silvery ferret as a kit. As she got older, she lost most of the darker hairs and became mostly white. People who saw all of our ferrets together often commented on how pretty Jasmine was. Jasmine had a very easy-going and sweet disposition. She got along with everyone and seemed oblivious to the dominance struggles of some of the others. A couple of years ago, Jasmine's coat started to show signs of adrenal disease. She didn't act sick at all, and a thick coat returned, so we didn't have surgery. In retrospect, we probably should have. During the past few months, our focus on Buttercup's illness probably kept us from realizing that Jasmine was becoming very ill. We took her to Dr. Weiss about a month ago, and he said she had a very large spleen and probably an adrenal tumor. Although he said her coat was thin, it looked pretty normal to us. She was overeating and getting fat; we were used to sick ferrets refusing to eat. The results of a chem screen were normal. When a round of antibiotics didn't have any effect on her enlarged spleen, we began to think seriously about surgery. She was starting to act very sick, not playing any more and acting uncomfortable, so we decided to schedule surgery for Tuesday, June 15. We expected the surgery to be a routine spleen and adrenal tumor removal. Much to our surprise, Dr. Weiss found a huge right adrenal tumor that was blocking blood flow through the vena cava, attached to the liver, and ready to rupture. He performed a vena cava ligation; the spleen returned to normal size after the removal of the adrenal tumor, so he left it in. Dr. Weiss took Jasmine home with him for the first night, and everything seemed to be going well. Ironically, there was only one other time a ferret of ours faced a difficult surgical recovery; that time Jasmine was the young, healthy blood donor who saved Ben's life. We took Jasmine home on Wednesday, and she had a rough night. She was in a lot of pain and was breathing hard and even panting. We took her in to Dr. Weiss the next morning, and he examined her and found her vital signs normal. He gave her fluids and an injection of Torbutrol, and she seemed better after this. She slept comfortably for a long time, and we thought she was improving. At night she became restless again and would not take Nutrical. She seemed to at first not notice the ferretone held under her nose. It looked like she would have another rough night. Her tail was puffed, in retrospect a bad sign. We brought the hospital cage upstairs again so she could sleep right next to our bed. Soon after we turned out the lights, we heard several high-pitched cries. We turned on the lights and sat next to her. She cried two or three more times and stopped breathing. Jasmine will be buried next to our dog Lupi at a beautiful pet cemetery in a rural area of Maryland. Her picture will be on her little tombstone so everyone who sees it will know she was a ferret, a ferret who was loved. Goodbye, Jazzy. We'll never forget you. Four years was much too short. Clare and Bill Sebok 4. Subject: update From: "Crockett-Roe, Anita" Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 07:44:17 -0700 Hi Everyone! I didn't have to post anonymously - yes! :-) Actually, I am still in CA, but not for long! For those that know me (and those that don't!), I want to let you know that I'll be moving back to NM in about a month. My hubby got a job there, and that's where we're from so our families are there. We want to start our own family, so it just seemed like a good move for us at this point in our lives. My husband has already started his job in Albuquerque, and he took the fluffs with him, so they've finally been emancipated! LOL! I really miss them though! Well, enough about me. :-) I wanted to update everyone about our male fluff (Silky) that has Lymphsarcoma. Silk is still doing really well 4 months after diagnosis, and although he may not have too much time left, we're really enjoying him while we can. He's still a bouncy happy ferret after chemo and pred treatments, and we'll keep doing what we can for him! Our other 3 are still doing well, and our oldest (Jasla) is now 7 and still going strong. :-) For Clare: I'm so very sorry to hear about Jasmine. You really gave me a lot of support when I was struggling with Silk's lympho, and I hope that I can offer you some comforting words during this very sad time. I hope that you can picture Jasmine at the bridge, playing happily with all the other fluffs. I like to think that when I see a rainbow, it's really all the furry creatures peeking in on us, until we get to see them again. :-) Take good care. For Andrea: I'm also so sorry to hear about Bean. Although I know she's at the Rainbow bridge playing with Jasmine, our Brandy, and all the other fluffs. I just know they're having a blast up there dooking and dancing away! I hope to have more time when I move back to Albuquerque, so I can share more of my experiences with adrenal problems since I've been through a lot with that. I hope everyone else's fluffs are still doing well, and I'll be posting again soon with a new e-mail address, etc. Take care until then everyone! Anita 5. Subject: Sunshine From: Anonymous Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 16:55:33 -0700 (PDT) I want to thank everyone who responded to Sunshine's dizziness. It has been 4 days since she had the episode and she seems to be doing great. I have not seen any more unusual behavior or dizziness since, as a matter of fact she seems to be more energetic and playful than usual! I will continue to keep a close eye on her and will take her to see her vet if it happens again. I am pretty sure now that it was indeed a insulinoma induced seizure, I just panicked at the sight of her acting that way. It was very unnerving to see her go through that. Thank you all again for your posts, They were all helpful and put my nerves to ease. Rachelle,Sunshine,and Stormy 6. Subject: Odie! From: "Amy C. Dempsey" Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 14:32:07 -0700 Well with a lot of TLC, Peptobismol and antibiotics Odie is up and running again! It took about three days but she snapped out of it. Two of my boys developed diarrhea about the same time so I put everyone on water soluble Terramycin. I have had really good luck with this in the past. Has anyone else out there used this? Back when the best vet I had down here in St. Croix primarily worked on Race Horses, Sheep and Cows, when my little ones got diarrhea he had me go to the feed store and buy a package of Terramycin. The $5 package is sized to make 500 gallons of drinking water for cows, but it also provides doesages mixtures for turkeys, swine and MINKS. So I make up the mink doesage in their water for 5 days, and by day 2 the diarrhea is always gone! It sure was the easy way to give 18 ferrets medicine! And of course, the minute Odie seemed to be getting better, Cory had her first seizure from insulinoma. She had manage to spit out her Pred in the morning and I hadn't noticed! But anyway for the moment, everyone is in the pink again! Amy, Odie, Little Bear, Cory, T-2, JJ, Jack and BJ (His Whiteness) 7. Subject: Question for a vet From: lisa dempsey Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 06:59:55 PDT The last issue of the FAIML raised a couple of question that I have wanted to ask for a long time, but have not bothered to until now. I would prefer if only vets respond, but if anyone else has specific and detailed knowledge, please feel free to respond. My question is: What exactly is Lupron, and how does it work? (i.e. what systems does it effect, what chemical reactions does it produce, what makes it work for adrenal disease, etc...) While I am asking questions...I am also curious as to how Prednisone works in ferrets and why it is used to treat all the things that is used for? (I know what it is, and what it is used for in humans) Also, why have people and vets said that it has no long term effects in ferrets? I know that in humans, Pred., if taken for a long time, sometimes even a short time, has some very nastly and unpleasant effects, and I am wondering why this doesn't happen in ferrets (or does it and it just isn't noticeable)? Thank you to any one who has the time and knowledge to answer these questions, I really appreciate your time and effort! Lisa, Maurice (all I want to do is chew on your toes Emma), Emma (leave my feet alone or I'll...look at Mom funny, and roll over), and Claude (at the Bridge) ------------------ End of FAIML #303 --------------------