From:
katharine
Date: 2001-08-11 19:56:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Bi-Adrenal Surgery not doing well
Linda wrote:
<Her last surgery was over 3 weeks ago and she is
not doing well. All of a sudden she
decided not to eat unless I syringe her, but once
I started the meds, she won't take the
syringe.<
The symptoms you listed may be that she is
crashing. I was warned about this when Cedes
underwent a bilateral adrenalectomy two weeks
ago. If there is NO residual tissue left, the
hormone levels can go whacky and they can crash.
I was told to watch for lethargy, not wanting to
eat, etc. Dr. Purcell recommended (on this list)
testing electrolytes 5-7 days post-surgery. We
tested Cedes on Monday (6 days after surgery). He
is also on prednisone.
0.01 (1/100ml!!!) dosage of PediaPred seems awful
small. Are you sure that's the correct dosage?
That would only be about 1-2 drops per dose,
almost too small to measure. I know it's
compounded differently and comes in different
strengths, but Cedes gets a full ml each dose (I'm
not sure of the strength). He started out twice a
day for 5 days, went to once a day for 5 days, and
is now on 1ml every other day for about 4 more
weeks. His blood will be tested again about a
week after the pred ends. You may want to
double-check the dosage with your vet. If she's
getting too low a dose, that could cause her to
crash. And, I would consider having her
electrolytes checked.
I would most definitely NOT recommend removing all
food for two days! I think your vet is trying to
make her hungry enough to eat but I think it shows
a lack of understanding of ferrets. Being weak
from a lack of food is not conducive to healing,
in my humble opinion.
Good luck with your little one and keep us posted
on her progress.
Katharine