From:
team-machine
Date: 2002-02-21 18:02:00 UTC
Subject: Chromium/Confusion
By Mary Van Dahm
(With additional revisions per Pam Wood-Krzeminski, DVM)
(Further revisions by Angela Espinet, South Florida Ferret
Club & Rescue)
CAUTION: It has recently been determined that chromium
may LOWER blood glucose levels, not raise it as was
previously thought. This diet includes chromium and
brewers yeast (which is also a source of chromium). One
may want to consider whether or not to use either of
these components of this diet.
With this new mixture, some ferrets have been weaned off
Prednisone, and reduced dosages on others. Please
consult with your veterinarian and have regular glucose
checks taken on your ferret if you choose to try this
therapy. Some pros and cons to consider will be listed
below the recipe. Remember that this is meant as a
supplement to the regular diet, not as a replacement,
although sick animals may be fed this alone for a while
if they cannot eat their regular dry diet. This recipe
makes approximately 8 servings (l-l/2 oz. each).
1 can Hill's Prescription Diet A/D
2½ oz. (1 jar) Chicken, Turkey or Lamb Baby
Food(Gerber blue label)
6 papaya enzyme tables or equivalent of
FerretZyme Plus
1 tablet (100mcg per tablet) Vitamin K
1/4 to1/3 tsp. Dextrose powder (or 1 cc Karo
syrup)
1/4 cup chicken broth or plain water (homemade
broth is best, or use canned, low salt. DO NOT
use bouillon cubes!)
1 tsp. heavily ground clams (use on a weekly
basis only to supply some added taurine; for
syringe feeding, substitute tablet form taurine
(250mg) available from veterinarian.)
1 heaping tsp. PROBALANCE (for cats)
½ tsp. Brewers Yeast
1 capsule (400 I.U.) dry
Vitamin E
½ tablet (10 mcg per tablet) Chelated Chromium
(equals 400 mcg of elemental chromium)
1 cc PET TINIC
1 tsp Lecithin granules (optional)
PREPARATION:
Crush/mix Chromium, Vitamin K and FerretZyme Plus
(or 6 Papaya enzyme tablets) together to make a
fine powder. (If you don't have a mortar and
pestle, use a spoon and a flat bowl or even a
rolling pin with the pills between 2 sheets of
waxed paper).
Mix the powder with the cat food, baby food, and
Dextrose. Let combined mixture set for 15 minutes
or longer (this allows the enzymes to start
working).
Add the remaining dry ingredients (break open
Vitamin E capsule) and the PET TINIC and stir
well. The mixture should be smooth, not lumpy.
Heat the chicken broth until hot, but not boiling.
(Water may be used in a pinch, but broth adds more
flavor.)
Mix broth slowly into the mixture until well
blended.
Serve in a bowl or by syringe, twice a day,
minimum. If fed by syringe, give at least 25 ccs
per feeding.
Helpful Hint: Use the baby food jar to measure
each portion: Fill to the top edge of label = one
serving.
NOTE: It is not recommended to store this mixture
for more than 48 hours since some of the vitamins
may start to break down. If you can't use this
much mixture in that amount of time, cut the
recipe as needed.
PROS and CONS:
PROS
The mixture adds many healthful nutrients to the
diet.
The need for steriods and other insulin blockers
is reduced.
Prednisone irritates the adrenal glands and
other organs. By using this mixture and cutting
back on the use of Pred you are reducing the
risk of adrenal problems. This mixture is
especially helpful in cases where adrenal
problems are present and corrective surgery is
not an option or has already been done and
further surgeries are not desired.
CONS
This mixture is time consuming to make. This
mixture is not a cure for Insulinoma and we do
not know if it simply helps the body to control
the glucose levels, or if the mixture reduces
the size or number of insulinomas.
Pred has the ability to retard the growth and
production of insulinomas in the pancreas. By
eliminating it from the ferrets health program,
we may be allowing the insulinomas to continue
to grow unchecked although lower doses of Pred
may still be used concurrently with this
regimen.