Message Number: SG7630 | New FHL Archives Search
From: haleyking@hotmail.com
Date: 2004-01-29 23:39:52 UTC
Subject: RE: Sick ferret-40% weight loss please help!
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <31332340.1075421276954.JavaMail.nobody@magnesium.smartgroups.com>

You need to have the vet check the ferret's glucose levels. Until then, see=
if a little bit of honey or karo syrup revives him any. If it does, then =
he really needs to see the vet because this could mean he has insulinoma (t=
umor on the pancreas that causes the pancreas to produce too much insulin).=
Remember that after giving him some honey or karo syrup, try to give him =
some baby chicken food. If his glucose levels are low, and you give him th=
e honey, you need to give him some protein so it can stabilze the glucose l=
evels. If you don't, then his glucose levels will crash again and it may b=
e worse. This is only a temporary treatment until you can get him to the v=
et. If he won't take the baby food, see if letting him lick it off of your=
finger works better. Sometimes they like to be hand feed when they are si=
ck. If this doesn't work, then get a syringe and fill it with the warm bab=
y food. Lightly scruff his neck, and slowly feed him a little at a time. =
But not too fast, because you don't want him to aspirate it into his lungs =
and get pneumonia. The Ensure is probably causing the diarrhea. This woul=
d make the dehydration worse. Does your vet deal with ferrets often? It l=
ooks like checking his glucose levles would have been one of the first thin=
gs he should have done, since insulinomas are very common in ferrets. My l=
ittle boy was diagnosed about a month and a half ago. He is 3 1/2 years ol=
d. Here is a good website that can tell you a little more about insulinoma=
s. http://www.afip.org/ferrets/PDF/insulinoma.pdfFor more info about the d=
isease there are a ton of websites you can learn from. Just go to www.goog=
le.com and type in "insulinoma in ferrets". The important thing is to get =
your baby some help fast![Moderator's Note: Syringe feeding is extremely ri=
sky as the author noted. This method should be left to experienced people]=
.Author wrote:> Hello everyone, This is my first post. I have 2 ferrets, Os=
car and Cookie> Monster. We noticed on Friday that Cookie's weight was down=
about 40% and> Oscar had gained a great deal of weight. =