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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2014 21:59:19 GMT -5
Cheshire has been losing weight latley and i figured it was just seasonal, she eats fine, but she has lost so much weight its almost scarey! This past week she's been picking fights with everyone, even her best buddy spinner is being nipped and scruffed till she yelps. Shes been aggressive to all the other ferrets for no apparent reason. Today I went to take separate her and Loki (who was being bit on the ear), and i noticed her the bottom of her tail had very little hair next to her body. I do full body checks on the ferts every week and hadnt noticed it before. As i scruffed her and looked at her tail i noticed a LARGE amount of fur between my fingers, her hair is literally falling out. She's in a separate cage right now. Is this Adrenal? Or something else?
Thank you guys, super worried about my girl right now but not sure if my vet is equipped for ferrets ATM.
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Post by bitbyter on May 4, 2014 22:48:23 GMT -5
How old. It certainly sounds like it could be adrenal.
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2014 22:52:38 GMT -5
She's only a year about 15 months old, a year last february.
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2014 8:52:36 GMT -5
It sounds like adrenal to me. My boy Tak became adrenal at about 1yo, so age doesn't necessarily play in, it's just more rare for younger ferts to become adrenal but it does happen. He had one very tumor covered adrenal gland removed at 15 months and his first DES implant at about 2yo. I would be finding an experienced ferret vet. It sounds like your Chesire at the very least needs a DES implant if not adrenal surgery if her aggression and hair loss are so very bad. Good luck to you both!
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2014 12:09:07 GMT -5
Good luck with finding a new vet. Keep us posted!
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2014 12:10:14 GMT -5
Sounds like some classic symptoms of adrenal. I concur with the above and schedule an investigation into the cause and an appointment for the DES implant.
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Post by Heather on May 5, 2014 13:36:06 GMT -5
I'm afraid I agree. Even though the symptoms may wane a bit as the summer comes around (yes our altered ferrets season too...that's the problem)she is displaying classic adrenal symptoms. The only one missing is the swollen vulva. I would be very tempted to do a trial lupron run or implant her with DES.
ciao
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Post by miamiferret2 on May 5, 2014 14:06:15 GMT -5
there have been quite a few ferrets that have been diagnosed with adrenal tumors at just 1 year old. i would do a 3 month trial with lupron (monthly lupron is about $50 a month) and if you see improvement, you have yourself an adrenal ferret. another option is to do the Tennessee Panel which many vets require that you do prior to commencing any adrenal treatment.
i would ask vet to do lupron for 3 months though. if you see improvement with lupron, then i would switch over to the deslorelin implant which is meant to last 1 year. however, with ferrets that have progressed tumors, the implant can last anywhere from 6 to 8 months. the farther along the tumors are, the less time between implants.
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Post by miamiferret2 on May 5, 2014 14:07:26 GMT -5
if lupron does not help, you should look to see whether any thyroid issues or the dreaded L word.
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