From:
tanya@screentechinc.com
Date: 2003-03-14 18:12:22 UTC
Subject: Heart related + low glucose + tumour
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <21580969.1047665542898.JavaMail.root@scandium>
I sent this directly to Dr. Williams as smartgroups was dwon earlier today. I'm desperate for any help or ideas.
Max, 6 y/o albino, was diagnosed with valvular disease about 2 months ago. This is how it was explained to me by a friend,
"Max's problem is that when the blood gets pumped up into
the aorta it 'slides' back because the valve that's supposed to keep it forward is dilated. "
On top of this problem, his glucose was in the 30's (but no visible signs of insulinoma). Before diagnosis of the heart condition my vet prescribed pred. for the insulinoma. About 3 days into receiving the med, he began to breath heavily. Suspecting cardio (based upon xrays) we did an ultrasound and found his heart to be normal but the problem was valvular.
Stopping pred., we began him on proglycem 2x a day to continue to combat the insulinoma (still no visible symptoms). About 3 weeks ago I brought Max back in for a check up - he seemed lethargic though his coughing stopped. Blood test came back normal, but the vet felt a *small* growth in his abdomen. Once again, a ultrasound was done and it was determined that a large tumour was wrapping itself around his liver and several other tumours were also visible. Diagnosis = cancer. I opted not to biopsy and my vet felt surgery is not an option.
Currently Max is on lasix, endicard, and proglycem. He seemed to be doing *well* - the lasix is keeping the fluid build up down and he was eating and defecating normally.
Now as of today, Max has labored breathing. His stomach is wracked in heavy breathing and his exhaling is quite pronounced. He continues to eat every time I offer the bottle (1-2 hrs) but with less gusto - I suspect the effort tires him out. I also notice that if I feed him too much at one sitting, he develops a bit of a cough - like something is stuck in his throat. This can last anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes.
Now for my question: my vet isn't sure if the labored breathing is heart/lung related or if possibly the tumours are becoming invasive. We began the endicard last nite and are waiting 48-72 hrs to see if there is any changes in his breathing. My question is: is there anything else we can do to make him more comfortable? I can tell that Max is not ready to go yet. He continues to move around (best as he can) and he enjoys being held and being with his cage mates. Would pred be an option to impede the tumour growth? Is there any other drug cocktails that would help with the breathing and not counteract his heart problem? I mentioned digoxin (another friend has had good success with it) to my vet, but he was concerned of the toxicity.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much.
Tanya Grave