I think my ferret may have adrenal disease
on the 19th september this year I noticed my 5 year old unspayed Jill's fur was becoming thin, I put it down to some sort of mite, I was due to go on holiday on the 21st so I agreed to take her to my local vets to have a mite/flea injection the day after I got back on the 2nd of october.
well on this monday just gone, I took her out of her cage to my horro her fur on her back and belly was completely gone! I had a neighbour feeding her for me whilst I was away but as she's never had ferrets she probably didnt realise it was a cause for concern.
Iv looked into it on the internet and the only thing im getting back is adrenal disease.. So im now in need of a specialist vet I can take her to.
can anyone help?

It seems that to get diagnosis a blood test needs to be done and sent off to an endocrine lab, I should imagine any good vet could do this to get you a diagnosis, and then if you needed to be reffered after that you could be.
Here are details of the blood test that you would need.

Adrenal Disease In Ferrets


Adrenal disease is commonly seen in ferrets over 3 years old and is caused by adrenal gland tumours often associated with the left adrenal gland (60% – 70%). Females appear to be more affected than males (70%). Clinical signs include significant hair loss, muscle wastage, aggression and vulval enlargement in females.

Diagnosis can be confirmed by assaying the adrenal sex hormones, oestradiol (E2), 17-Hydroxy-Progesterone (OHP) and cortisol. Cortisol alone is not a good diagnostic test for ferret adrenal neoplasia. Often the tumour has differentiated in such a way that cortisol is not its principal product.

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i am shocked that you left an animal for almost 3 weeks with no vet care simply because you were going away, what was wrong with taking her the day you found it, or the day after?!
even if it were "just mites" leaving it that long is enough to make any animal anaemic which can KILL
when we take on animals we have to put them first, you had 2 days before you went away to take her to a vet and you didnt

do you not already have a ferret savvy vet? where abouts in SY are you

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I suggest you take your ferret to the vets rather than looking for diagnosis on the internet

16 days without vet treatment really isn't on IMO

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I hope you've already taken your ferret to the vet today, but if not I suggest you get her there as soon as possible. I don't understand why you waited untill after your holiday to treat this but whats done is done I guess.....

You should take her to your vet you normally go to/were going to go to, as they should be able to give you a diagnosis of what is wrong. I wouldn't waste anymore time before taking her for some sort of treatment....

Yeah, defo get her to the vets soon as

As Lil Miss said, knowing where you are in SY would help a lot.
Only vet that I've heard of in South Yorkshire (I think it's in SY)that treats ferrets is in Sheffield, but only because I don't know South Yorkshire very well (only Sheffield really), there are probably loads. If you really feel you need a ferret specialist just get a list online and make a few calls.

Like others have already said you shouldn't really have left it this long, a pet is way more important then a holiday.

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Well considering i lost my job before I went away and 'mites' havent been a major cause for concern before with other pets, I had to wait to come home before I could gather money together. Atleast Im asking for help and wanting a proper ferret vet rather than any old vet, Iv made that mistake before with a rabbit I found that needed shaving. that ended up coming back full of stitches as they'd used a dog/cat shearer!
She wasnt bad before i left, her fur just seemed slightly thinner, which could be a number of things. Its only when iv come home to find her bald on her back and belly..
Why not critise the idiots who abandon animals? atleast she has had a loving home for the past 5 years and always has. I could just stick her in a tiny cage, use her for rabbiting and forget about her, but I dont, so dont judge a book by its cover!
Sorry i bothered making a member of this forum. Ill go elsewhere next time
Cheers

i do critisize the idiots who abandon their pets, normally when they throw their pets at me and leave me to clean up their mess!!!
sorry but you KNEW she had a problem, most vets are happy to sort a payment plan out if your low on funds, and mites is a major problem if left un treated they are fatal. Any illness, parrasite, or behaviour change in any animal is cause for concern, and i dont know how any one could go away for that long knowing they had left a fluff at home in need of medical attention
if your that low on money maybe you should have cancelled your holiday, being able to afford vet bills is so much more important then a couple of weeks in the sun, i havent had a holiday in years! simply because i wouldnt trust any one to spot half the problems i would in my furries

again where abouts in SY are you located?

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Hmm.. Cancelling that holiday, considering it was a present from my parents for me and my partner as WE havent been on holiday for over 6 years due to all my pets, would have been very ungrateful of me to cancel it.
She wasnt showing any physical symptoms, only slight thinner fur, that could be from the change of the weather? Do you run to the doctors with alopecia when some of your hair may fall out? No.
My local vets no longer do 'payment plans' so thats out of the question and the other 2 nearest to me i wont use after having my dog put to sleep because they were too thick to detect my dog had a mass tumour on her lungs.. they would rather fob us off with 'diarrhea and sickness'

'again', goodbye.

we are very different to animals, we are able to take ourselves to the doctors if it gets worse, you left her alone for 16 days with no option to go to the vets if it got worse, that im afraid is highly irresponsible, you knew something was wrong, you should have atleast taken her for a check up to put your mind atrest!

i havent been on holiday since i was 15, grow up! pets HAVE to come first, if you cant or wont put them fist, dont get them, they cant tell us when they are poorly, or whats the matter

all vets will do payment plans if you talk to them before hand rather then just assume, my vets dont do payment plans, payment HAS to be upfront, however im always able to pay a day or so later no problem, and im currently paying off a £300 vet bill (for a cat i found!) week by week

it is our choice to have animals, and by making this choice we have to make sacrifices, even if it does involve cancelling a holiday, or putting yourself into debt

and no i wouldnt run to a vet with hair loss, but i would damn sure take my fluffs! we are very different from animals, we dont get mites, they dont get alopecia

AGAIN what area of SY are you in, we cant recommend a vet if you dont tell us

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