Mojo is one of my three ferrets. He was diagnosed with Adrenal Disease in December of 2009. He receives monthly injections of Lupron from his Vet to treat the disease.
One of the first signs of the disease was hair loss. He started loosing hair between his shoulder blades, then the hair loss moved down his back and onto his stomach. He has responded well to treatments and has begun to grow hair across his back.
Adrenal disease consists of tumors on the adrenal glands which are located in front of the kidneys and generally starts affecting ferrets over the age of 2. High exposure to light and early spaying/neutering are in general considered the most likely causes of adrenal disease. The most common symptoms of adrenal disease are hair loss, pot belly, muscle loss, lethargy and dramatic weight loss. Ferrets with this disease often lose all of their fur except for on their face. Diagnosis can usually be made by your veterinarian without additional testing because of the unique symptoms.
Surgery is the most effective treatment option but can lead to complications because of the small size of ferrets and their organs. Drug therapy is the next best option. However, drug therapy will NOT cure your ferret of adrenal disease, it will attempt to maintain the condition of your ferret and hopefully stop its progression. The drug therapy will not work if the gland is malignant.
Days and Counting Until Mojo is done his treatments!
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