Adrenal Disease in Ferrets
In America, it seems to affect ferrets at a much earlier age and there is a growing opinion that the early neutering of ferrets contributes to this problem. The disease progresses slowly and these days the success rates after surgery are quite high, and the ferret has a good chance of complete recovery and a long and happy future. Some of the things to watch out for are:
Because adrenal disease appears to affect the hormones in various ways, you might find that:
Treatment is usually the removal of the affected gland surgically but if the ferret is not a good candidate for an operation, then it can usually be treated with drugs. In Australia & the UK, we can help ferrets with a suprelorin implant while in the States they have melatonin implants. Speak to your vet about getting an implant for your ferret if it's not a candidate for surgery. More information on Deslorelin acetate implants can be found on this site.
My albino boy, Angus, had a beautifully thick winter coat but as summer progressed it thinned out quite it bit. It didn't worry me initially, as we were going through a very hot summer. However around the end of February it struck me that Angus was losing a line of hair on either side of his spine. It was hard initially to notice it happening, because of the white hair and skin underneath. But as time went by, it was very obvious that yes, Angus was losing hair on either side.
I spoke to one of the Committee Members at WAFFS about the problem and was told that Dave Neck, the society's vet, won't operate on ferrets 5 years and upwards - he puts a suprelorin implant in. I took Angus to Fiona, my vet, and when she examined him, she agreed that there was no doubt that he had AGD - the bilateral hair loss up his spine, the translucent skin ... they were the only two symptoms he had but they were definite enough for her. I asked Fiona about what she thought of the suprelorin implant and asked if it was just a cosmetic fix. No, she said, it wasn't because it helps to suppress the production of GnRH in the brain which, in turn, suppresses the production of hormones from the adrenal glands. It doesn't cure the disease but it certainly helps the ferret to get back to normal. When I took Angus to see Fiona, he had lost quite a bit of hair off his back, as you can see from this photo ...
He didn't get over-aggressive with the other ferrets, thank goodness. To be honest, if it weren't for the hair loss and translucent skin, I would never have known he was ill. He was always my numero uno weasel wardancer and the illness certainly didn't slow him down one bit I took him to get his implant on March 24 (2011) and Fiona said that it'd take about 2 weeks to start working so I marked the date on the calendar and once that fortnight passed, I kept my beady little eyes on him. There wasn't any sign of improvement until the end of April. I noticed that Angus' back was no longer translucent but the skin was looking "thicker" and had a yellowish tinge to it. Over the weekend his fur started to look fuller and it was very obviously when I stroked his back that it was growing back.  I am thrilled with the result and hope that my little man's improvement will continue as the weeks go by
I've put up a few pdfs from the American Ferret Association which might be of interest, so please feel free to download the ones you want ... Click to download this PDF file here Click to download this PDF file here
DISCLAIMER: The information contained on this page is not meant to replace seeing a veterinarian if you think your ferret is ill. It’s only meant to supply general information on a particular illness which was obtained either from personal experience with my sick ferrets, or from books and/or the Internet. Return from Adrenal Disease in Ferrets to All About Ferrets
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Loss of hair, starting at the base of the tail
