From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2004-03-01 04:05:12 UTC
Subject: Kodo update (9 y/o w/insulinoma, enlarged spleen)
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <20040301040512.69700.qmail@web21403.mail.yahoo.com>
Hi, everyone,
Summary of posts so far: Kodo, a large (about 4 lbs.)
neutered male ferret is nine years old. He has
insulinoma and had a hugely enlarged spleen causing
mobility problems. He is not a surgical candidate.
We treat him with pediapred for insulinoma and tried
clavamox to attack the underlying infection causing
the enlarged spleen, three weeks on, two weeks off.
The first round of clavamox worked wonders, the second
treatment was less effective but still helpful. For
the third round we substituted baytril which had no
effect at all.
Update: Kodo's spleen got back to as huge as it was
before this all started and he had significant mobilty
problems again. Restarting antibiotics was delayed
due to a week of diarrhea which was cleared up with
metronidazole (a/k/a flagyl). After that, one week
ago, we restarted the clavamox. Now, one week later,
his spleen has started to reduce in size again and he
has regained some mobility.
Someone had written me off list to suggest trying
tetracycline which had worked for another ferret. Our
vet feels that tetracycline is not without problems
and preferred to try clavamox again.
Kodo's blood glucose had been around 75 (plus or minus
a little) for some time but last week that changed and
he had a crash (spacing out) for the first time since
before his insulinoma surgery a year and a half ago.
Pediapred was increased to .4ml twice a day (1ml/mg
concentration). Before surgery an increase above .3ml
did no good. This time it seems to have helped. His
blood glucose went up from 53 to 76 and there have
been no further insulinoma symptoms. We are still
holding off adding diazoxide while the pediapred alone
still works. Kodo is a big boy and our vet believes
he can tolerate that dosage.
Kodo isn't terribly active but he does explore some
and remains very affectionate. He does not seem to be
in pain or discomfort. Hopefully if the clavamox
continues to reduce the size of his spleen his
activity level will improve again. We are, of course,
mainly concerned with his quality of life at this
point.
I'll post again when we know how effective the three
weeks of clavamox is the third time around.
All the best,
Caity and the super seven
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