From:
AFERRETVET@cs.com
Date: 2004-07-29 00:03:53 UTC
Subject: Re: Spleen/insulinoma/pred ?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <d2.12825057.2e3998e9@cs.com>
Hi ifixrex,
By the sounds of it (1.25mg of pred only once a day) your
ferret is having hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) problems.
Has the glucose been rechecked since reducing it to once
a day? Ferrets with insulinoma will need pred every 12 hours.
Plus the Pediapred liquid works better than trying.to give a pill
twice a day. I would first change the pred to pediapred and use
it twice a day. After several days recheck his glucose level. If still
low then increase pred amount, if too high then decrease the pred
amount but continue using it twice a day! The spleen can enlarge
because of any chronic illness (insulinoma, adrenal, lymphoma)
or disease, but usually it does not need to be taken out (unless it
gets big enough to cause mobility problems or it is enlarged from
lymphoma or another cancer). Some will reduce in size after
controlling the original problem (insulinoma, adrenal, infection, etc.).
Some will reduce in size after being on pediapred for some time.
I would first control his blood glucose level then monitor his
spleen. The spleen is an important organ, so you do not want
to take it out unless it is needed. Fortunately ferrets do well
after removing the spleen, so it can be removed if needed.
(BTW they removed my spleen when I was 3 years old.
Spleenless people are a high risk for bacterial infections
for the first 5-10 years after the surgery and at a higher risk
for some bacterial infections for the rest of their life.)
Hope that helps,
Jerry Murray, DVM