From: Lynn McIntosh [faiml@uswest.net] Sent: Saturday, October 16, 1999 10:12 AM To: mjanke@miamiferret.org Subject: (Fwd) Adrenal List #54 - 4 surgeries today! Forwarded message: From: Self To: @SENDLIST.PML Subject: Adrenal List #54 - 4 surgeries today! Reply-to: Lynn McIntosh Date: Sun, 1 Mar 1998 19:15:24 Hi there. Shelley: I just got your message. I'm so thankful you took those four fuzzies to the faraway vet... You may know all this, but just in case: Keep Jake as warm as you can and feed him as much turkey baby food as you can - Gerber's has taken out the onion powder so it's just pure old good ground turkey - though our turkey soup is superb, the Gerber's just plain old pureed turkey will do the trick when nothing else will (as in... it's the ultimate favorite!) - finger feeding is best. Post surgery, we often give sub-q fluids; little high-metabolism fuzzies dehydrate very quickly and drinking water can be painful after internal surgery. Syringe feeding fluids (water or pedialyte, if palatable to the fuzzy) is good too, though still hard on the tummy or if internal organs are sore. Regarding keeping our fuzzies warm post-surgery, lacking anything better, we've used a heating pad, covered with blankets and checked throughout the night to ensure it's not wet or too hot. Margaret Ann and Scott Lehman are sending me a lave bed which sounds far superior to a heating bed... I'll test it out and report back! You seem to have two really wonderful vets; the one in your area would probably happily show you how to give sub-q fluids if it's needed - it's been an invaluable tool for us, along with knowing how to force feed and highly encourage soft food feeding. These little fuzzies need food, water and warmth, as you probably all know, along with our high doses of love! Fuzzy hugs to your four tonight... I look forward to hearing good news about all four of them very soon. Lynn Adrenal List #54, dated October 28, 1997 1. Four Adrenal Surgeries - Today!!! 2. Dry, Itchy Skin 3. Reply: Itchy Ferrets 4. Male vs. Female Adrenal Disease 5. Mutley 6. Majority of cases are boys 1. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 10:14:57 -0800 From: Chris & Shelley Knudsen Subject: Four Adrenal Surgeries Hello! Just got back into town from Omaha earlier, we did our 4 adrenal surgeries today. I am definitely glad I traveled the 2 1/2 hours for them. Even my vet, who came with me to observe, said that one of them most definitely probably would not have made it if she had been doing the surgery without the clamps. Jake, my 5yr male with a very distended abdomen and wheezing had a tumor embedded on his left adrenal the size of a quarter in diameter. He is probably going to have the hardest time healing due to some complications during surgery. Tonka, 4yr old male stray turned into the Humane society with no hair had a left adrenal tumor that apparently was attached to a little of everything. Abby, a 4yr old female whose only symptom was a swollen vulva had a right adrenal tumor firmly attached to the vena cava. And Tiger, my own little girl, whose only symptom was a swollen vulva, and who only has been showing symptoms for 3 months, had small tumors on both sides. So Dr. Curry took out both adrenals on her. I was torn between leaving them there for 3 days, and bringing them home tonight with such a long drive, but both Dr. Curry, and my vet, Dr. Lewis, thought they should come home with me. No one had the entire tumor removed, in each case there was just a little left behind that she was unable to get to, so I guess they will be staying in the shelter a while longer. I was hoping that the surgeries would be enough so that maybe they would make a full recovery, and have a chance at being adopted, but, I guess we will just have to wait and see. Not too many people will adopt a ferret that has to be on medication for the rest of its life, and I won't adopt them out until I know for sure. In regards to Tiger having both adrenals removed, I remember someone posting about the hormone replacement therapy? My vet suggested pediapred every day, but I was wondering if there was something that was better for her. She is about 3 yrs old. I am also worried about Jake, he is not doing too well tonight. He is so cold to the touch, and for being such an avid kisser, he was not even interested in giving me a kiss. I turned up the thermostat to 74, and just changed to shorts and a tank (and yes we do still have a foot of snow outside), to try and warm him up. I guess he had a popper during surgery, and it weren't for the clamps, he would probably have bled to death. Well, that has been my day, hope everyone's fuzzies are doing okay. Dooks and kisses to all, Shelley Knudsen Legion of Superferrets of Nebraska Ferret Shelter ferrets@tcgcs.com 2.---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 01:56:31 -0700 From: Chris & Shelley Knudsen Subject: Dry, itchy skin Hello! In regards to the post about the dry itchy skin, I have had really good results with a skin conditioning spray called Humilac. As a shelter, I had lots of people ask me about what to use for adrenal ferrets with dry skin, but it wasn't until I had a few of my own, that I actually tried a few things that I had not learned from the fml. Humilac is a conditioning spray for cats and dogs that is used for after shampooing, or just for dry skin. I was worried about them licking it, I didn't know if they would get sick, but so far, no one has, and it has worked miracles on dry skin. All of the scabs from itching are gone, and while they don't really care for being sprayed down, and they do lick some of it, the benefits far outweigh the negatives. I got it from my vet, it says on the container available only through vets. It is a blue spray bottle. Hope this helps! Dooks and kisses to your fuzzies, Shelley Knudsen Legion of Superferrets of Nebraska Ferret Shelter 3.---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 22:03:56 +0000 From: "Karen Purcell, DVM" Subject: Reply: Itchy Ferrets Lori and other interested parties, > Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 09:33:17 EST > From: lbarber > Subject: Azrael - Post Surgery > > Azrael had his left adrenal removed about 6 weeks ago. He continued > to lose hair after the surgery and has finally started to sprout > some, but he is so itchy that I'm having a hard time keeping his skin > free from sores. I use vaseline on the red spots, but then he just > starts scratching somewhere else. He is also still losing a little > hair on his head and face. Has anyone else had this slow recovery > process? I need a little comfort and advice on how to make him more > comfortable. I have had dome success with calamine lotion for recovery type itching in several species. Certainly wouldn't hurt to try (as long as you don't mind a pink ferret). -Dr. Karen drkaren@world.std.com 4.---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 14:21:05 -0500 From: "Michael F. Janke" Subject: Male vs. Female Adrenal Disease > I have a new adrenal baby, TiG (Tee Gee) and to me is an unusual case -- > TiG is a boy. In my experience, most adrenal ferrets are female -- at least > the ones that I see. Two of my boys that have since gone to the Rainbow Bridge had adrenal disease. Also, I'd guess that at least half of the adrenal ferrets in our shelter (I think we have about 30 with this problem at the moment) are male. While the ratio of female to male with adrenal problems may lean towards females, I wouldn't consider a male with it to be anywhere near an unusual case. Just my opinion of course. My prayers go out to Nico. I will keep him in my thoughts. For the ferrets, Mike * Michael F. Janke - mjanke@gate.net * Secretary, South Florida Ferret Club & Rescue * * Shelter Home Page - http://www.gate.net/~mjanke 5.---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 12:35:03 -0600 From: Troy Lynn Eckart Subject: Mutley Last night was an experience I hope will not soon be repeated. I was over at Lynda's and let her upstairs group out while I cleaned litter boxes. Mutley came out of his cage and went into Edgar and Magoo's cage and laid in the litter box. I noticed him and watched. He got up and tried to urinate. No stream, puddle or drip. He went back and layed in the litter box. Got up and tried again. And again. Nothing. I picked him up and felt a rock hard bladder and a small lump at the base of his groin. He made little whimpering noises. I showed Donn where the lump was and sent him downstairs to show Lynda. When Lynda came upstairs we watched Mutley strain a bit for a few minutes then we went to work. Lynda pressed on the bladder working upward. Nothing. She used a hot pack to relax (cooled so as not to burn) Mutley in that area. Lynda held Mutley and Tina held his back legs. I worked on his bladder. Within a short time (I'm sure Mutley thought it was a LLLOOONNNGGG time) a tiny white crystal appeared. I continued squeezing and a good amount of green pus was expelled, which was the lump I had felt. We put Mutley down and he went right to the paper and pee'd. Within the next few minutes he pee'd several times. The blockage was gone. Mutley may be adrenal. My guess would be he is. He has shown manly assertiveness towards his cage mate for periods from time to time. He has just a bit of thinning hair on the top of his head. Not typical adrenal hairloss pattern at all. We are currently monitoring him and as of this morning he is still peeing freely. I recommend that everyone have their vet show them how to express a full bladder and how to work on getting a crystal out, just in case the need arises. If you don't feel comfortable with this process I can understand but it is a good piece of info to store in the memory banks just in case..... Hugs. tle 6.---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 13:47:32 -0600 From: Troy Lynn Eckart Subject: Re: Majority of cases are boys The majority of our adrenal cases are boys - 10 boys 3 girls Boys are more frightening because of the related prostrate/blockage problems in my view. Hugs. tle ----------------------End of Adrenal List #54-----------------------