From:
Lisa
Date: 2001-10-23 15:37:00 UTC
Subject: More Addison's Questions
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Bruce Williams, DVM"
<williams@e...> wrote:
>This can be life- threatening if it goes on long enough.
Sodium is indeed important.
>
> Keep up with the injections - they are your ferret's
adrenals.
Thanks so much Dr Williams.
This spurs so many questions. First, can over-dosing of the
injections cause adrenal symptoms to return despite the fact
that there is no adrenal tissue left? Like if you give
injections too often over time, can this trigger symptoms to
return, thus necessitating adjusting the medication schedule?
I keep hearing that you can't "overdose" a ferret on the
percortin, but in the long run, can this happen?
Here is the main problem that my vet and I are discovering:
At the vet conference, I remember your panel discussing doing
the injections at 3 weeks versus 4 weeks. We've been sort of
playing both a guessing game as to when to regulate these
shots and how much to give.
Here are some of the details and hopefully you or someone else
can help me to know what to do:
Dr W. gave an injection of percortin immediately following the
surgery and warned me to watch 3-4 weeks post-op for signs of
the ratios being off.
In the first two cases, at three weeks post-op, Loco and
Noobie both crashed and exhibited signs of this crisis (which
I now know to be Addison's). Their ratios came back at 24:1
(Noobie) and 20:1 (Loco). Both received injections of .15ML
of the percortin. Loco bounced back within 12-24 hours to his
normal self. Noobie continued to worsen. One week later,
after trying all sorts of meds for suspected stomach upset
(carafate, pred, Imuran), I brought him back to the vets.
Another electrolyte reading showed his ratio to be a 14:1. He
received another injection, this time, .25ML of the Percortin
- and this made him bounce back miraculously quick within
hours. I was also told to give him 1/2 tablet of Florinef
(.1MG tab) daily for 2 weeks and then take him down to 1/4 tab
daily and continue to give the injection in 3 week intervals.
Three weeks following each of their injections, they began to
"slow" down again. We did the injection of .2ML of the
Percortin - which is hoped to be their stabilizing level.
Both responded well. Bloodwork was not done again at that
point.
So...Are we to assume that both boys will need .2ML of the
Percortin every three weeks for life? At what point
should/would we want to "test" this to see if we need to
decrease to every 4 weeks or decrease the amount?
My other situation is my ferret D'Artagnon - who had his
"true" bilateral surgery 5 1/2 weeks ago. After what I'd went
through with Noobie's crisis, I had him tested at 3 weeks
instead of the recommended 4. His ratio came back a 29:1 - no
percortin needed. Over the next 3-5 days, he began to slow
down, I took him back and indeed, his ratio came back a 17:1.
He received an injection of .25 of the Percortin.
Should he get his injections every 3 weeks or every 4 weeks?
I'm sorry this is so long - it's just still so new and it
seems that the protocol for these treatments changes. I know
last year, the injections used to be .1ML every 4 weeks, then
they went up to .15ML every 3-4 weeks, and now it is at .2ML.
But how do you know what is the truly correct monthly doseage
to give?
All of these boys are between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 years old.
Injections "for life" will hopefully be many more years, so I
want to make sure I'm doing them correctly.
Id also love to hear from anyone else who might possibly be
going through this too and hear whats worked for you in
these cases.
Thanks so much!
Lisa Shortley