From:
williams@ex-pressnet.com
Date: 2001-06-29 08:43:00 UTC
Subject: RE: emergency--ferret seizures
Dear Lori:
This presentation is not uncommon - at 17, they often pass through seizures
into a coma - we call it "going screaming into a coma".
Although it looks awful - these animals are totally out of it - people who
have been through this level of hypoglycemia remember nothing about it
afterward - the vocalization is involuntary.
At thi point, - treatment is the same as with an insulinoma - maintenance on
dextrose, exploratory laparotomy, and surgical removal of the tumor, or
partial pancreatectomy (depending on the landscape when you get in there.) I
don't think that I would wait for next week for surgery - it is likely that
he will do this again on you - a BG of 17 can be life-threatening.
At 17, this is not an animal that can be regulated medically at this point -
surgery is the way to go. X-rays wouldn't really be expected to show
anything - most insulinomas are really too small to show up on an X-ray.
-----Original Message-----
Hi. Last night our six year old ferret Coco started violent seizures and
screaming (I have never experienced an animal in more distress). We took
him to the pet emergency at 4:30 a.m. and they told us that his blood sugar
was 17 and his temperature was very low. This morning we transferred him to
our vet. They think that it is possibly insulinomia (?). They took x-rays
and nothing showed up. They also took blood tests and a check for
insulinomia. We will find out the results of the blood tests tomorrow and
the others early next week.
This came on really suddenly. We noticed that Coco had started to lose his
balance and had made an appointment with the vet for Friday. We had no idea
that it would escalate to this so quickly.
Do you have any experience with this quick onset of violent seizures? Do
you have any suggestions for us?