From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2001-03-16 22:45:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] concerned about high glucose
Standard disclaimer: I'm not a vet, but...
On Fri, 16 Mar 2001 fshldy1017@a... wrote:
> I was wondering if a ferret can have a high glucose with insulinoma.
> My ferret Bo had a CBC done about two months ago and his blood glucose
> was 175.
Generally insulinoma results in low blood glucose. But here are a couple
of thoughts... First, I've often heard that blood glucose can be elevated
from stress - such as if the ferret wasn't terribly happy giving up his
blood. Someone else would have to comment on whether 175 is a reading
that could be from stress alone. My totally unprofessional feeling is
that it could very well be - it's above normal but not terribly high.
Next, isn't this your same guy who is on pred for some kind of GI thing?
Pred raises the blood sugar which is why it's so helpful for insulinoma.
Again someone more qualfied should probably comment here, but 175 likely
isn't dangerous, especially if the pred is helping with his other problem.
But perhaps it should be watched to see what it's doing - could rule out
the stress thing and make sure it's not going any higher. Might not hurt
to get his blood sugar rechecked when you can - just a simple quick
in-house blood sugar test at the vet's office, not a full CBC/chem panel.
Then, if it appears that he does tend toward high blood sugar and there is
worry about him becoming diabetic at some point, you can monitor his urine
at home for sugar. If his blood sugar gets into a more dangerous zone,
it'll spill over into his urine, and you can test for this with test
strips for diabetic humans you can find at the drug store. A simple color
change will tell you whether or not he's spilling sugar into his urine -
if that happened you'd call your vet.
A lot of "if's" here. :) Rule out stress before worrying about the other
stuff.
Hoping others will comment and correct the above as needed!!
-Pam S.