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Post by krazychica on Aug 2, 2008 13:22:14 GMT -5
For adrenal cancer surgical removal?
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Post by Jaycee on Aug 2, 2008 18:54:51 GMT -5
I think it really all depends on the health of the ferret at the time of surgery. You could have a 2 year old ferret that is mal nurished and a sting of other illnesses, and you could have a 5 year old ferret that is fed well, full of energy and strengh. I tend to believe, age is just a number.
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Post by mustelidmusk on Aug 2, 2008 21:59:12 GMT -5
I agree with Jaycee, it depends upon the ferret, and it also depends a loy upon the experience level of the vet with regard to ferrets/surgeries. If your ferret as had adrenal disease for a long time, the adrenal gland may have cancer, or both adrenal glands may be affected. If both adrenal glands are affected, the gland that is locate close to the vena cava is commonly attached to the vena cava , which is a major, centrally located vein. Complete removal of a tumor in this case would involve cutting into the vena cava which is somethng my vet does not recommend. My vet was recognized in one of the AFA publications for being the first to successfully resect the vena cava for complete removal of the adrenal tumor adjacent to the vena cava. He's a very, very skilled surgeon, but he refuses to perform that surgery - he said he did it a few times, it was VERY painful for the ferret, and the ferrets never seemed to fully recover from the surgery. And he found that ferrets actually lived longer, fuller lives with a little slow-growing cancer in them than having the vena cava resected. another area where experiece helps is the use of anesthesia on ferrets. Isoflurane gas is administered via a little cone-shaped mask. An experienced ferret surgeon will know everything to check and exactly where to look once inside. Typically, the panceas will be examined as well as quick look around inside. Te sleen is then slid back into place and the stitching process begins. An experienced ferret vet is also good with pain meds., andthe patents iwill be kept in an incubator and closely monitored until the ferret has stablied enough to be moved to arecovery cage. Generally speaking, ferrets handle abdominal surgeries pretty well, and they recover pretty quickly asuming the ferret is otherwise healthy and the surgeon is good. Regarding the vena cava... most of the time only one adrenal gland is affected, and it's not the one that's adjacent to the vena cava. If both adrenals must be removed, ferrets commonly required hormone replacement therapy. It's been quite a few sl years since I went through this with my first two ferrets, but flourinef was the drug of choice at that time. I think you'll probably want to discuss the surgery with your vet before proceeding, ask about his experience level, anesthesia, hat hell checkfor once he's inside, what if the vena cava involved - will he simply debulk the gland ? if a bilateral adrenalctomy is necessary, what about hormone replacement therapy..which meds? ongoig cost? etc. Pase feel free to PM me with any questions -or PM me to say - "hey, I jus posted on the adrenal thread, and I'd like your input". That way I'll be ure to NOT miss your questions! (some weeks get kind of nuts for me -jennifer
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