Fhl

From: FeritFran@aol.com
Date: 2002-07-07 02:04:26 UTC
Subject: RE: Bilateral Adrenal Questions
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <97.2a1b70a0.2a58fbaa@aol.com>

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You really can't tell what will happen. Some animals will simply slow down
as the sodium levels decrease, some may crash. If your vet is confident that
the right adrenalectomy was complete, I don't recommend trying to wean off
Florinef. Its a treatment for life.

With kindest regards,

Bruce Williams, dVM

I wanted to relay to the list what happened with our Meeko (5 yo, 2/2002 -
Path Valley) after her bilateral surgery in October 2001. Our vet gave her a
shot of Percortin and put her on .10 Prednisone. She seemed to be doing well
on her scheduled feedings of Ensure - A/D- chicken baby food and ground I/D.
I heard mixed sentiments on the Ensure and how bad the sugar was for her - so
foolishly, without consulting my vet I switched to Glucerna (sugar free) in
December. Within a weeks time she crashed terribly - she quit eating (I
force fed) loose watery stool and vomiting and severe lethargy. I brought
her to the vet and when I told him about the Glucerna, he told me that it
contains Sorbitol and that alone was probably what was making her sick (at
this time he gave her another shot of Percortin). We switched back to the
Ensure and she seemed to pick up very quickly.

In February it was eating away at me that she was on the Pred and no
electrolyte testing had been done. I wanted testing done, but of course the
Pred would make the reading inaccurate. I had figured the .10 dosage of Pred
to be 3 drops from the bottle dropper, so that's how we administered it - 3
drops a.m. - 3 drops p.m.

In close contact my vet she was slowly weaned off the pred. For 1 week we
did 2 drops a.m. - 2 drops p.m. The next week it was 2 drops a.m. and 1
drop p.m. The third week was 1 drop a.m. and 1 drop p.m. The fourth week
was 1 drop a.m. and none p.m. When she was fully off the pred for 7 days,
I brought her in and he did electrolyte testing. All came back fine.
She's not been on Pred since the 4th of March 2002 and I must say, she is
more energetic and playful than she EVER was since we got her at 8 weeks old!
Her fur is fully grown in. She still doesn't eat on her own (spoiled
beyond reason at this point!) but eats well 3x a day. I make her food with
2 cans of Ensure, 3 cans water, 4 cans A/D and 2 cups of kibble, soaked in
boiled water - (TF/TF Senior and TFS Superior Choice). 4 jars Chicken baby
food all combined in the blender. I freeze it in ice cube trays and she
eats 1 cube 3x a day. She'll also eat some Bob Church Chicken Gravy each
day.

Of course she is her own "case", but I just wanted to tell her story.

Best to all,
Love on your fuzzies!
Fran Brown

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You really can't tell what will happen.  Some animals will simply slow down as the sodium levels decrease, some may crash.  If your vet is confident that the right adrenalectomy was complete, I don't recommend trying to wean off Florinef.  Its a treatment for life. 
 
With kindest regards, 
 
Bruce Williams, dVM 
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I wanted to relay to the list what happened with our Meeko (5 yo, 2/2002 - Path Valley) after her bilateral surgery in October 2001.  Our vet gave her a shot of Percortin and put her on .10 Prednisone.  She seemed to be doing well on her scheduled feedings of Ensure - A/D- chicken baby food and ground I/D. 
I heard mixed sentiments on the Ensure and how bad the sugar was for her - so foolishly, without consulting my vet I switched to Glucerna (sugar free) in December.  Within a weeks time she crashed terribly - she quit eating (I force fed) loose watery stool and vomiting and severe lethargy.  I brought her to the vet and when I told him about the Glucerna, he told me that it contains Sorbitol and that alone was probably what was making her sick (at this time he gave her another shot of Percortin).  We switched back to the Ensure and she seemed to pick up very quickly. 
 
In February it was eating away at me that she was on the Pred and no electrolyte testing had been done.  I wanted testing done, but of course the Pred would make the reading inaccurate. I had figured the .10 dosage of Pred to be 3 drops from the bottle dropper, so that's how we administered it - 3 drops a.m. - 3 drops p.m. 
 
In close contact my vet she was slowly weaned off the pred.  For 1 week we did 2 drops a.m. - 2 drops p.m.    The next week it was 2 drops a.m. and 1 drop p.m.   The third week was 1 drop a.m. and 1 drop p.m.  The fourth week was 1 drop a.m. and none p.m.    When she was fully off the pred for 7 days, I brought her in and he did electrolyte testing.   All came back fine.     She's not been on Pred since the 4th of March 2002 and I must say, she is more energetic and playful than she EVER was since we got her at 8 weeks old!  Her fur is fully grown in.   She still doesn't eat on her own (spoiled beyond reason at this point!) but eats well 3x a day.   I make her food with 2 cans of Ensure, 3 cans water, 4 cans A/D and 2 cups of kibble, soaked in boiled water - (TF/TF Senior and TFS Superior Choice). 4 jars Chicken baby food all combined in the blender.   I freeze it in ice cube trays and she eats 1 cube 3x a day.    She'll also eat some Bob Church Chicken Gravy each day. 
 
Of course she is her own "case", but I just wanted to tell her story. 
 
Best to all, 
Love on your fuzzies! 
Fran Brown
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