From:
tansy
Date: 2003-08-08 04:41:45 UTC
Subject: Re: Devil's Club Redux
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <20030808044145.1891.qmail@web14902.mail.yahoo.com>
Mike and Sukie, I obviously didn't make myself
clear...the sugar was only given to Mary the first 2
of the 42 times she received the Devil's Club. So,
clearly the sugar itself did not cause her blood sugar
to return to normal 3 weeks after she took it.
And Mike, unfortunately your comments are typical of
people not understanding how the herb works, and I
believe for some people's failure with it. Devil's
Club MAINTAINS the sugar level. If you give it to a
ferret with a fbs of 50 it will stay at 50, which is
why it so important to get the sugar in the normal
range before giving it- hence the icing sugar to a
hypoglycemic ferret. The scenario basically is : the
ferret has low fbs, the sugar brings the levels up to
normal, 30 minutes later the Devil's Club (which seems
to work better with a protein meal)MAINTAINS the sugar
level up to 12 hours. After only a couple of doses the
sugar stays within normal ranges between doses, and
the ferret is no longer ever hypoglycemic and no
longer needs sugar. The Devil's Club MUST be given
every 12 hours. Skipped doses or longer time intervals
also cause it to not work.
As far as the protein in and of itself, all my guys
get meat once a day anyway, so I really only added one
protein meal to her diet. I have had ferrets for 18
years now, my first one, Bob, died of insulinoma. I
have lost count of how many others have suffered from
it (I guess averaged over the years my population runs
about 15 to 20 ferrets at any one time). I have tried
all the normal treatments: protein meals,
dexamethasone, sugar etc. Nothing has ever worked like
this herb. And it can be used with dex (I gave Mary
.2mg every 3 days which I forgot to mention and I'm
sure helped some also).
Diane Bodofsky has had a case that is even more
tenuous, but interesting... She had a ferret come into
the shelter with classic insulinoma symptoms up to and
including seizures. She treated him with the Devil's
Club, he got better, but after about a year died of
other causes. During his necropsy NO SIGNS of
insulinoma could be found, which seems to indicate it
may actually cure the disease. Of course, this is ONLY
interesting and suggestive, since he did not have
earlier surgery to prove that his hypoglycemia at that
time was definitively caused by insulinoma and not
something else. Makes you wonder though...
Anyway, Mike and Sukie and everyone else thanks for
your comments, and I hope it's forced me to explain
how this herb works a bit more clearly.
And, now, another question...another of my favorites
is the hormone Melatonin for Adrenal disease. I am
seriously considering starting to give my guys .5mg a
day prophylacticly to see if I can prevent this
disease. Has anyone tried this, any thoughts?
tansy
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