From:
"Marie Bartholdsson"
Date: 2004-04-01 10:09:17 UTC
Subject: RE: [ferrethealth] Re: blood glucose without carbs
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <2691004.1080840340091.JavaMail.nobody@chromium.smartgroups.com>
>Yes, ferrets can use amino acids (from protein) to make
>glucose in the liver. This is call gluconeogenesis, and most
>carnivores can do this.
I thought this might be interesting info:
I know of two ferrets, from two different households, that were both kept on
an all natural diet containing very little or no carbs. Both of them were
healthy their whole lives, but when they got old, one at 8 and the other at
9, they both got symptoms of insulinoma which was confusing to the owners
since the ferrets had been on the natural diet the whole time. But it turned
out there was nothing wrong with the pancrease. What they both had was a
failing liver function. By adding a dosage of 500-720 mg of glucose daily to
the diet, all symptoms of a low blood glucose disappeared. I don't know what
other treatment these ferrets may have received, or if the dosage had to be
adjusted over time, but they both went on to live many more months of good
quality life (I think one lived for more than a year).
Marie