From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-05-25 06:44:00 UTC
Subject: Re: insulinoma & seizures
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., SanQuatre@a... wrote:
> Mystik is acting quite sick now. She is six and it has been about a
year
> since she was diagnosed with insulinoma. She didn't have surgery
for it, but
> has been on prednisone.
>
> Yesterday she began to have seizures and didn't want
> to walk around at all. She'd been doing fine until just a couple
weeks ago.
The most likely cause of seizures in an animal on rednisone for
seizures is that the animal has developed resistance to prednisone
over time, and the blood sugar level has dropped. You didn't mention
what the blood sugar level was, or if it had been tested. That
should be the first order of business.
Insulinoma should initially be treated surgically - I wait to break
out the prednisone as definitive treatment only for animals who are
not surgical candidates, or have had recent surgery.
The possibility of a blockage or other problem causing seizures is
remote and best, and brain tumors are exceedingly rare in this
species. However, hypoglycemia is a very common cause of seizures
and in an animal with a history of insulinoma, should always be
considered first (second and third as well).
Herbal treatment is not really what Mystik needs right now - a blood
glucose test and abdominal exloration to see if she can be helped by
surgical is probably a far more effective approach.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM