From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-07-30 23:19:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Pebbles and Insulinoma
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., vboggs@s... wrote:
> My little girl Pebbles is almost 9 and we're both really having a
hard time
> with her insulinoma.(Up until 2 weeks ago she was playing like
crazy and
> seemed fine, then she fell over and I took her to the vet...) I
feed her
> every few hours and she sleeps on my chest throughout the night so
that I
> will be able to hear if she is having a problem. The prednisone has
made it
> better, but she is still VERY weak and staggers most of the time.
Does
> anyone have any suggestions as to whether or not I should have
surgery or is
> she too old? She has cataracts in both eyes but otherwise her
health is
> fine. I really don't know what to do. I love her so much and I
don't want
> her suffering like this..
The key words here are "otherwise her health is fine." This is an
indication for surgery - playing like crazy, otherwise healthy....
Even though her chronological age is 9, her physiological age seems
much younger. First run a complete blood profile to assess the rest
of her systems, and if it checks out - I think that surgery is a
worthwhile gamble. It seems as if medical treatment is no longer an
option at this point.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM