Message Number: YG8778 | New FHL Archives Search
From: CandiceBush@aol.com
Date: 2001-11-17 00:29:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Pam Drazinski's diabetic ferret Abby and my Brutus

Pam, something very similar happened to my Brutus several months post surgery
for insulinoma. He was on high dose prednisone (1.5 mg twice daily) which
kept his glucose up to around 60 and symptom free. Then he popped up to 700!
He has been off pred for weeks now, and we have tried humulin and pork
insulin but he is very resistant. He is getting 8 to 10 full units of pork
NPH twice a day and his glucose is rarely below 300. I tried skipping a few
doses to see if it was having any effect and his glucose remained in the
300's but his drinking/urinating went way up and he got dehydrated, so I put
him back on.

I found several ferrets with similar problems on the net in the archives.
Many seemed to get over the diabetes in 2-13 months and go back to a milder
form of insulinoma requiring lower doses of pred.

Why? Who knows. Most were on pred prior to developing diabetes. Several,
like my Bru had adrenal disease. Bru has had 1 1/2 adrenals out and now
requires Lupron shots. One ferret I know of recovered from the diabetes as
long as it got the lupron. So, is it a problem with the prednisone effect?
My suspicion is it is complicated by the adrenal putting out extra cortisone
and epinephrine, both of which cause insulin resistance. But why would an
insulinomic ferret stop making insulin? (Brutus insulin level was low at 4.0)
I wonder if the pred finally causes exhaustion of the Beta cells in the
pancreas. Just guesses.

Anyway, if you want, I can send you some of the letters and archives I have
saved on this subject. Just say the word.
cb