From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2004-07-07 20:34:44 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Insulinoma Surgery or Pred
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <20040707203444.23086.qmail@web50805.mail.yahoo.com>
Hi, Ardith and everyone else,
There is no right or wrong answer to your question.
It depends on the ferret, their age, their medical
history, and what the vet believes is right. Our
primary vet will hold off on surgery if he can control
symptoms with a low dosage of pediapred
(prednisolone). I don't know if your ferret's dosage
is high or low because you didn't give the
concentration of the pred. Our backup vet, who is
outstanding in her own right, is very aggressive about
insulinoma surgery and would say just what your vet
does.
We've faced the decision you have faced four times
over the past four years. Three times we opted for
surgery, once we did not. Here is what happened in
each case:
Ker Avon - diagnosed at age three and a half. Did not
respond well to a moderate dosage of pred. Had
surgery and lived for more than two more years with no
symptoms, no medication, and a normal blood glucose
level.
Lady Ayeka -- diagnosed at age three and a half. She
has been maintained on a very low dosage of pediapred
for two and a half years so far and is doing just
fine. She started off at .1ml (1mg/ml concentration)
once per day and her blood glucose went high. We
gradually reduced her dosage all the way to a
miniscule .03ml once a day and she maintained normal
blood glucose. If we dropped to .02 her glucose level
crashed. We eventually had to increase to .04ml and
then to .08ml, her current, still tiny, dosage.
Podo -- diagnosed at age seven and a half. Pediapred
gave him diarrhea and didn't bring up his blood
glucose enough. Surgery at age eight. We had to
resume a low dosage of pediapred 10 months later.
He's now on .25ml twice a day and we're much more
concerned with other health issues. His blood glucose
is normal. Podo turns 10 later this summer, we think.
Kodo -- diagnosed at age seven and a half, did not
respond to pediapred. Surgery before his eighth
birthday. He needed pred again four months later but
did respond to it well. He lived to be nine and a
half and we were able to control his blood glucose
until the day he died.
As you can see, no two cases are the same. I tend to
trust our vet's judgement.
The usual disclaimer applies: I am not a vet, nor do
I play one on TV.
All the best,
Caity and the super six
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