From:
Stephanie
Date: 2001-10-09 13:52:00 UTC
Subject: [Ferret-Health-list] Re Insulinoma & Food
Thanks for the clarification, Patty! I wasn't totally sure
about the 12 hour thing, but I do remember many people talking
about the once a day not working well for them and that every
twelve hours was a better way to go. The reason I have concern
about the vet is because it seems that they reached the max
dosage awfully fast without trying other methods of
administration first. (Again I'm not bashing the vet, I'm just
saying that maybe another vet could help out in trying to slow
the pred increase or even decrease with a different schedule)
Maybe I misunderstood the rate at which the max dosage was
reached but it seemed only a matter of a couple of months. I
always get a little worried for the ferts because they adapt
to the pred and once you go up, you can't really go down.
Anyway, I'm just a big worry wart and I'm always getting
second opinions when the prognosis is grim and/or if my
current method of treatment doesn't seem to be working. That's
how I found my current vet whom I think the world of (but of
course there are still things that I glean here that she
hasn't heard of).
My thoughts go out to all the sick ferts,
Stephanie
with Maggie, Bullwinkle, Shasta, Nanook and Nyla
missing with all my heart Icabod and Emeline
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Austin [mailto:kazpat1@juno.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 5:46 PM
To: Ferret-Health-list@yahoogroups.com
Prednisone is used in humans in once a day and
every other day regimens, depending on the
reason for treatment, and the desired effect.
Pred starts to loose its potent effects within
8 hours, so I can see why the three times
a day may work better for some. However,
it lasts up to 48 hours in the body before it is
eliminated completely. So, I don't think the vet
is wrong to suggest the once a day dosing, or
every other day as long as the animal is doing
well, I would think it can be tapered or increased
as the desired effect is reached. It should always be
tapered
before being stopped if it is given more than a week,
at least that is true in humans,
Of course, her vet is talking about reaching the max
dose of pred of 2mg/kg a day, so technically he is
right that after that dose is reached there isn't much
more that can be done, however keeping the dose
the same and trying the twice or three times a day
dosing by dividing the 2.5mg into two or three is worth
a try, making sure the feeding is at least every 4 hours,
and
no meals missed may also help.
Patty