Message Number: YG14046 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Pam Sessoms
Date: 2002-06-20 18:52:00 UTC
Subject: Re: update-insulinomic, now diabetic-please offer reasoning

On Thu, 20 Jun 2002, reeddion wrote:
>
> My real question is why this happened now. He spent a couple months
> after the surgery with too low of blood glucose, and all the sudden it
> shot up to 9 times what it was (50 to 450 in a week). Taking him off
> the pred hasn't lowered it at all, even after more than a week. <snip>

I am so sorry you are going through this. My girl Sonic did this, but she
went back to normal after we weaned her from the pred. She was up and
down a lot, very confusing. Unspayed dogs I have become really interested
in these insulinoma/diabetes ferrets because of Sonic...

Has your guy been given a shot of Lupron, just for kicks? I have read of
a few of these cases where the ferrets straightened around, as if by
magic, when given Lupron. It never, ever made any sense to me at
all. So, I've been bending my decidedly non-scientifically-trained brain
on this for awhile. Understand I'm not a vet, and my thoughts are
strictly the ravings of an obsessessed, untrained mind. I'd love any
other ideas, especially by those more in the know.

OK, so going out on my limb here... Ferrets so commonly get adrenal
disease, it would not be a far stretch to think that one with insulinoma
may also come down with adrenal disease at some point. Diseased ferret
adrenals pump out sex hormones (estrogen, etc)... Giving Lupron is going
to block those hormones (oversimplified, but it's the best I can do). So,
where is the link to blood sugar going sky-high?

I was doing some web searching for information about hormones and diabetes
and came across an article about diabetes in dogs. It mentions that
diabetic dogs should always be spayed; sometimes spaying will resolve the
diabetes. It also mentions that it's hard to control diabetes with the
hormonal fluctuations an intact animal will have. So, anyway, there is a
"dog model" that helps explain why these ferrets may respond to Lupron.
Maybe giving Lupron in this situation is kind of like spaying a diabetic
dog. This article is here (url may wrap - might have to cut and paste it):

http://www.vetcentric.com/userportal/printerFriendly.cfm?OBJECT=79&ArticleType=EncycIllness

The thing I *don't* get, though, is why, if that's all true, we don't see
all kinds of ferrets becoming diabetic with just plain adrenal disease
(but not insulinoma being treated medically). I wonder if it has to do
somehow with excess insulin from the insulinoma and insulin resistance
from the elevated hormones if they become adrenal at the same time.
Anyway, I still don't completely understand it. But I think there may be
a link there.

And they don't *all* turn around on Lupron. But perhaps there are several
causes for this insulinoma/diabetes stuff, and the start of concurrent
adrenal disease is just one.

Good luck, and keep us posted. There is so much to be learned from
following these cases...

-Pam S.