From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2002-01-02 17:21:00 UTC
Subject: Re: [Ferret-Health-list] Bilateral adrenals: why
prednisone?
Hi, Roger, and everyone else,
> Dexamethasone is much stronger and has a much longer half-life - on the
> order of 3-4 days. It sticks around much longer, and daily doses will
> tend to accumulate more in the body than will pred.
This may explain why Pertwee and Ryo-Ohki benefit from dexamethasone.
Both have extremely high metabolisms. Both had to have their dosages
halved and given twice a day--otherwise they began to show serious
Addisonian symptoms.
To give you an idea how high a metabolism they have: Pertwee can run
for hours and hours. He can eat gravy by (literally) the bowl, eat
kibble, get Ferretvite as a treat, and we still have a hard time
maintaining his weight. My vet is having his thyroid function checked
again as a result. Ryo-Ohki is not quite as frenetic as Pertwee, but
she's a close second. These are my two highest energy wired weasels.
Anyway, I am curious to see what the vets have to say.
All the best,
Caity and the terrific 10