From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-01-06 00:15:00 UTC
Subject: Re: insulinoma surgery
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Moxie <moxieent@t...> wrote:
> I'm still planning on having surgery on my 3 year old Chance who has
> insulinoma. He is on .1 cc pred twice a day. I tested his blood
sugar
> this week with a 4 hour fast and it was 101. He has been eating
his
> soup well, too well in fact. He now has a big belly. I'm going to
cut
> back a bit on the amount I'm giving him. My question is what
section of
> the pancreas should be removed if no nodules are visible? Troy Lynn
> made mention that there is a section they tend to invade more. I'm
> still compiling info for my vet.
Actually, its not one section that they invade more, its that you can
remove one part of the pancreas and not the other. The ferret
pancreas has a duodenal and a jejunal arm. The ducts that conduct
digestive enzymes form the pancreas, where they are made and
packaged, the pancreatic ducts, (as well as some of the ducts from
the liver to the duodenum (the bile ducts) run through the duodenal
arm. If you take that arm out, the ferret will not survive.
However, there are no key ducts in the jejunal arm, and it can be
removed without harm to the ferret (they have way too much more
pancreas than they actually need.)
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
P.S. You may want to have your vet log on here - we're a very
welcoming group.