From:
Lynn McIntosh
Date: 2001-07-15 23:50:00 UTC
Subject: Surgery for Minnie- would anyone try it?
Hi. It appears methylprednisolone was not a very appealing idea for
treating insulinoma as a possible alternative to pediapred (my vet says
it's been shown to cause less side effects in humans), as only one vet
and two subscribers responded. But I've passed the info along to my
vet and I thank you!
I'm looking for opinions regarding insulinoma surgery for my little albino
runt girl, sweety Minnie. She has always been the most petite little girl,
but on only a couple months pediapred at a low dose for insulinoma,
and not being overfed, her petite weight has raced up from 1lb 4oz, to
1lb 10oz. Minnie was seven on June 17th. She has a congenital heart
murmur, three on a scale of six, yet symptom free, though she's puffing
a bit with the added weight, and vocalizing very lightly. She did fine
under anesthesia when she was spayed, but that was at only about one-
and-a-half. She has always been a very active little gal, though has
slowed down since the diagnosis of insulinoma. She still enjoys touring
around outside and a little play here and there, and hasn't stopped
galloping a bit.
We haven't ruled out surgery. We would defintitely start with an
ultrasound. However, we did an ultrasound on my eight-year-old
Gadzook, who appeared otherwise healthy except a large pancreatic
tumor, and we lost him directly post-surgery, about a month ago. He
had hypertrophic heart disease that was not detected on ultrasound- a
very sad story for us as he was our first and such a wonderful guy.
I'm wondering if, with Minnie being seven and having a congenital heart
murmur, would anyone here consider surgery for her? Or do you think
should I just leave it alone and treat her with pediapred the remainder of
her time. I know it won't be long until she's extremely tubby, though I
suppose we could work on her diet (but she's already on low fat food).
Thank you very much. Lynn and the tiniest (now only) Gang of Two!