by Liza Cameron Wasser

Created on: February 18, 2009   Last Updated: March 06, 2009

The adrenal glands produce sex hormones. Adrenal gland tumors, both benign and malignant, are relatively common in ferrets over three years of age. The left adrenal gland is most often affected, although both glands can be. The tumors cause the glands to overproduce certain hormones, causing an imbalance that results in adrenal disease symptoms. These tumors are more common in American-bred ferrets than in UK-bred ferrets. Studies are not conclusive, but suggest that the cause of these tumors may lie in diet, age of neutering or exposure to light.

Signs and Symptoms

Hair loss is the first and most common symptom of adrenal disease. The hair loss starts at the tail and rear legs and progresses up the back. The head and front legs are usually not affected. Hair loss can be seasonal, with the hair growing back and then falling out again. Other signs of adrenal disease are thin, flaky skin that may appear red and irritated, weight loss and lethargy. Enlargement of the vulva in females and sexual or aggressive behavior in a neutered male are also signs of adrenal disease. Male ferrets may also have difficulty in urinating, due to an enlarged prostate, as a result of adrenal gland disease.

Diagnosis

Your vet will most likely do blood tests, x-rays and other tests to rule out other causes before diagnosing adrenal disease. It is very important to rule out insulinoma, a tumor in the pancreas, which is often malignant. A diagnosis of adrenal disease is most often based on symptoms and the absence of other causes, but sometimes an enlarged adrenal gland can be seen with an ultrasound or even felt by your vet during examination.

Treatment

The first choice treatment is surgical removal of the affected gland. Total removal of the left gland does not pose significant problems, however, only partial removal of the right adrenal gland is possible because of its position in the body. The right adrenal gland is attached to the posterior vena cava, the main vein bringing blood back to the heart, making total removal of the gland too dangerous. Fortunately, the right adrenal gland is very seldom affected. The prognosis is very good for a ferret with an adrenal gland tumor on its left gland. Recurrence is likely in a case where the right gland is affected and the tumor could not be fully removed.

If surgery is not an option because of the age or health of the ferret or because the tumor is in a dangerous position on the right adrenal gland, medical treatment is available. Lupron is used to desensitize the pituitary gland. This causes the adrenal gland to stop overproducing sex hormones and alleviates the symptoms of adrenal disease. This treatment option does not shrink or remove the tumor, which is the underlying cause of the disease, but is an option when surgery is not viable. Lupron has been shown to be effective in treating the symptoms of adrenal disease, but no long-term studies have been done to test the safety of the drug. Lupron treatments must be continued to be effective. Stopping the Lupron injections will cause the symptoms to return.

Warning!

Lysodren is a drug that was formerly used to treat adrenal gland disease in ferrets, but has been shown to be minimally effective and also prone to cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Because adrenal disease is often seen with insulinoma and ferrets with insulinoma often have accompanying hypoglycemia, Lysodren is now not considered the drug of choice in medical treatment of adrenal disease.

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