From:
"US7"
Date: 2005-07-23 00:50:18 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Bailey is having seizures
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <14707008.1122080984275.JavaMail.nobody@chromium.smartgroups.com>
At this stage of insulinoma, and without currently having any diazoxide, I would
give Bailey sugars along with the baby food (proteins). If Bailey is currently having
seizures, getting some kind of sugar into him is crucial. Puff had more seizures on
diazoxide (note: this is not always the case, some ferrets respond to diazoxide and
some don't), and we went to a baby food, Nutrical, Ensure diet. You can put ribbons
of Nutrical into the baby food, if necessary. With that diet, she had very few
seizures. I want to stress that this kind of approach is basically good for end-stage
insulinoma, but sometimes you have to do what works.
I'm not sure it's been stated here, but this is how different foods work. Raw sugars
cause the immediate raising of blood glucose levels, which is the only way to treat
ferrets having low blood sugar attacks. As soon as you get the ferret out of the low
blood sugar episode (up to, and including seizures), you want to give the ferret
proteins. Proteins break down slowly into glucose, which is why they're not very
effective in treating a seizure caused by low blood sugar. But protein stays in the
system longer, producing sugar for longer periods of time simply because it breaks
down slower. Knowing how foods break down into sugars is important in knowing
how to help a ferret with insulinoma.
Why do we need sugar in our blood? Sugar (glucose) passes into our muscle cells,
converted by insulin into glycogen (not sure of the spelling). Glycogen is what our
body uses for fuel to move our muscles. Equally important, sugar (in the form of
glucose) also carries oxygen to our brains, which is why a lack of sugar causes
seizures - the brain is not getting enough oxygen because there is not enough
sugar (glucose) to carry the oxygen.
Knowing the basics of how some of these things work is very helpful in knowing
how to treat blood sugar related problems. I am not a vet or a doctor, but I am a
diabetic. Although I'm far from an expert, I know more about this than I ever wanted
to.
Roary