From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2002-01-02 14:58:00 UTC
Subject: Bilateral adrenals: why prednisone?
Hi, everyone,
Our ferret Ryo-Ohki (3.5 year old petite spayed female) had her right
adrenal gland out on November 30th. This made her bilateral. As is
normal, she was started on fludrocortisone (florinef) and prednisone.
Dosages were adjusted half a dozen times, but she still showed all the
symptoms of surgically induced Addison's Disease. She was completely
lethargic for weeks, wouldn't eat (we had to force feed her), shivered
uncontrollably, lost weight, and was generally miserable. Thankfully
she didn't go into an Addisonian Crisis, but otherwise she paralleled
what we had seen with Pertwee a year and a half ago.
On Monday my vet gave Ryo-Ohki an injection of dexamethasone. A little
over 24 hours later there was marked improvement. She came out to play
and started accepting hand feeding. Today she received another
injection. Play time was up to 45 minutes at a time this evening.
She's gained a few grams and is getting stronger. Based on the results
of today's bloodwork (what her electrolyte values are) her meds will be
adjusted again--and dexamethasone given orally will replace prednisone
permanently.
Pertwee (3 y/o neutered male, bilateral at a year and a half) has been
on florinef and dexamethasone for a year and a half and is as wild and
crazy and playful as ever. He, too, did not respond well to pred.
So... my question. Is this unusual? If not, why is prednisone the
medicine of choice rather than dexamethasone? Dexamethasone clearly has
been a probably life saving answer for my guys.
I'd love to hear from the vets on this one.
All the best,
Caity and the terrific 10