Message Number: SG12979 | New FHL Archives Search
From: - Z -
Date: 2005-03-03 19:56:14 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Pred and Insolinoma and
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
longevity
Message-Id: <14721926.1109881423922.JavaMail.nobody@chromium.smartgroups.com>

Hi Wolfy,

Amelia, who was five and a half at the time of diagnosis, made
it to seven plus a few months, and Cully who was six at
diagnosis made it to eight plus, both on pred. Amelia was
also on diazoxide for the last five months of her life and on
greater than maximum dosages of both drugs. Both ferrets
eventually succumbed to lymphoma; Cully's pancreatic tumors
were probably caused by his lymphoma rather than insulinoma
per se, with pretty much the same effect.

Neither ferret ever experienced any seizures that I knew of,
although Amelia's blood sugar was 37 when she was first
diagnosed (she really didn't act like it, and the vet was
shocked as well). Pred kept their blood sugars pretty
constantly in the low end of normal for most of the time after
diagnosis--Cully's was normal up until the end of his life.

Both my vet and I feel that surgery for insulinoma is a lot of
risk for potentially not very much gain. I would rather the
ferret lose a few months at the tail end when quality of life
is not that great than detract from their quality of life when
they are still relatively healthy. It may only take a few
weeks to recover from surgery, but that's a few weeks out of
the time that they have left to be happy stable weasels. This
is all just my opinion, and I think I'm probably in a
minority. I might feel differently if I had one diagnosed
with insulinoma at a younger age.

Regina