Other clinical signs that may be seen in ferrets with adrenal lesions include increased scratching, excessive drinking and urination, anemia, weight loss, and in long-standing cases, difficulty in using the hind legs. The cause of the hair loss and vulvar swelling is not currently known. The treatment for adrenal disease in ferrets primarily involves removal of the affected adrenal gland. Routine pre-surgical blood work should be performed in all animals over 4 years of age, as would be done for any other type of surgical procedure. In most cases, one gland is noticeably larger than the other and is removed.
Ferrets require at least a portion of one adrenal gland to live.
Removal of the left adrenal is fairly easy and has a low risk of complication. Due to the position of the right adrenal near several large blood vessels, it is a more difficult surgery and requires considerably more expertise on the part of the surgeon. As always, if your veterinarian has little expertise in performing this surgery, it is wise to ask for a referral to a more experienced surgeon. In cases in which surgical excision of the offending adrenal gland is not an option, medical treatment with certain drugs that kill off a large portion of the cells of the adrenal cortex may be tried. This form of treatment should be reserved only for those animals who are poor surgical candidates.