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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 16:47:42 GMT -5
I was just curious if both of the adrenal glands can be removed. If you were to remove both, would a ferret with adrenal disease be cured?
Could adrenal glands be removed at a young age to prevent disease?
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Post by miamiferret2 on Jan 25, 2012 16:53:51 GMT -5
removing healthy adrenal glands is not a good idea. the animal will have to be on medication for the rest of his life to prevent addison's. this also occurs after bilateral adrenalectomies for tumors that already exist on the adrenal glands. most people i know will only do left sided adrenalectomies. the right adrenal gland is adjacent to the vena cava and the surgery is more dangerous when it involves a right sided tumor. i don't do adrenal surgeries on my ferrets. i prefer to treat their tumors with medications. if i can keep them comfortable with the meds then I opt to go that route instead. it is a harsh surgery and recovery. there is also a high mortality rate with bilateral adrenalectomies. they also tend to come back about 90% of the time. so why bother. if you are interested in prevention, try using deslorelin implants yearly (January preferably if you are in north america).
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 17:30:31 GMT -5
So the tumors will return even if the glands are removed? Would an older ferret need hormone therapy if they were to lose both glands?
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Post by Sherry on Jan 25, 2012 18:02:10 GMT -5
It can, yes. The pituitary then starts stimulating the adipose(fatty) tissue where the adrenal glands had been located. It's next to impossible to remove the adrenals entirely, even with someone who has an excellent track record with right gland adrenal surgery, and all it takes are a few cells for it to be retriggered. So, now you are treating for Addison's disease as well as adrenal. Now, that said, there are ferrets, who when they've developed adrenal later in life have had the affected gland or glands removed and have done quite well for the rest of their lives. The key here is that they haven't developed the disease to the point of needing treatment until they are around 4-6 years of age. Any ferret who develops it younger has all the odds against them of living adrenal free for life.
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Post by Sherry on Jan 25, 2012 18:04:12 GMT -5
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Post by miamiferret2 on Jan 25, 2012 22:28:29 GMT -5
If you remove both Adrenal glands at any age you will have to give meds to prevent Addisons. As Sherry said, it is often impossible to get out all of the diseased tissue. Especially on the right sided tumors. It is said that even a microscopic sized lesion left behind can form into a new tumor down the road. Anyway, I guess I'm old fashioned but I am more into preventive measures. I don't like putting my ferrets through surgeries if there are other alternatives.
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Post by Heather on Jan 25, 2012 23:30:34 GMT -5
I won't do adrenal surgeries either. I will only treat chemically. The gamble of surgery just isn't worth it. I cannot bring myself to risk any of my little ones in surgery that may only give them 3 or 4 months free of the adrenal disease (yes, I know it could be 3 or 4 yrs too) ciao
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 23:43:11 GMT -5
read sherry's post on addison's disease. With the availability of Deslorelin, I would probably never remove both adrenals. Times have changed, but I had two ferts years ago that had bilateral adrenalectomies that did quite well ( my vet was AWESOME). I put some info in Sherry's thread on addison's.
-jennifer
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 23:54:51 GMT -5
If you remove both Adrenal glands at any age you will have to give meds to prevent Addisons. As Sherry said, it is often impossible to get out all of the diseased tissue. Especially on the right sided tumors. It is said that even a microscopic sized lesion left behind can form into a new tumor down the road. Anyway, I guess I'm old fashioned but I am more into preventive measures. I don't like putting my ferrets through surgeries if there are other alternatives. i second that!
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