It's 4.5 weeks after his op. and his general well-being continues to improve and slowly he's starting to put a little weight on. He's put 100g on which isn't a lot but is a start. We're so pleased cos he's continued to grow fur over his belly and it's short and furry all over now, and he's now growing patchy fur over his back. We can't wait till he's furry all over. However, he's gone a bit ginger, but hopefully once the fur grows a bit longer it will go a bit whiter. Bingo over winter has gone a buttermilk colour, so we presume that's what Casper will look like.
02 December 2006
It's 3.5 weeks after his op. and his general well-being has improved lots. He's very bouncy and wants to play and interact with Bingo and Willow, running, chasing and wrestling up and down the stairs. He's looking kinda of better within himself, although he still looks a bit scraggly.
He's definately growing his tail fur back as can been seen clearly in the photos. He is growing his fur back on his belly, but it's in patches and I can't yet see any fur regrowth on his back. We'll just have to wait and see. Willow's fur didn't come through clearly until week 4, so there's still a while to go for miracles.
25 November 2006
We've had Casper living back outdoors all week. At the beginning of the week the weather was really cold, and I was worried in case he was cold, having no fur and being skinny, but overall he seems well enough. We had the outdoor ferrets indoors a few times this week, and he came in bouncing, which he hasn't done for about 3/4 year. After the initial bounce he calmed down a bit like he was becoming tired, but it was good to see him want to wrestle and chase Willow.
He's still skinny and needs to build up some bulk and muscle tone. By the middle of the week, I noticed that he's growing the fur on his tail, and just possibly, it's still a bit early to tell, he might be growing some peach fuzz on his bald belly. So fingers crossed that his furs growing back.
18 November 2006
A week and half after his surgery, and his surgery wound has healed really well. After a week indoors, Casper made it known that he was fine and wanted out!! He's NOT an indoor ferret at all. His energy levels are good and he's very bright, seemed to be improved urinating, but his coat is still falling out.
11 November 2006
Casper was surprising bright when Tony brought him home from the vets. We're keeping him indoors and quiet whilst he heals. He's doing very well. I have posted his ultrasound scan where you can clearly see the enlarged left adrenal.
08 November 2006
Willow has been doing well over the year, however coming into winter both her and Bingo are pretty skinny. I know other people's ferrets are slimmer this year too. Some say it's because of the hot summer we had.
Anyhow, CASPER HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED AND TREATED SURGICALLY FOR ADRENAL TODAY.
We had suspected for about 2 years that Casper might be adrenal, infact even before Willow showed any signs of adrenal we thought he was. Last year over winter his coat fell out and he was scraggly until about March this year. Although his coat grew in it was rough and still scraggly. I also noticed that he winced a bit going to for a wee and generally he was skinny and his skin felt hot. All signs pointing to adrenal. Note that he didn't present the classic pattern of balding from the base of the tail upwards. Instead, he went thin from his tail, as in a seasonal moult, and thinned out from belly and up over.
We took him to our ferret specialist vet and decided that symptomatically he was adrenal. The vet decided to operate today. He took him in and ultrasound showed clearly an enlarged left adrenal gland. So Casper is recovering from surgery and we look forward to him growing a new coat in. The vet has taken some interesting photos, which I will post here.
So please, if you notice that your ferret is balding bilaterally, do consider adrenal disease as a cause, and not ignore it and put it down to seasonal hair loss. It is far more common in the UK now. Many more cases are being diagnosed.
