From:
Caitlyn Martin
Date: 2005-12-15 21:40:54 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] adrenal and insulinoma
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Hi, Kathleen, and everyone else,
> I will admit I have not kept track of the costs of
my
> ferrets medical care, but I joke with my vet about
> when they build their new wing it needs to be named
> after me or Tasha. Tasha has cost me several
> thousand I am sure.
My personal record was for an albino ferret named
Pertwee. I took him in at age six months because he
was a "terrible biter" nobody wanted. It turned out
he was deaf and startling him before earning his trust
resulted in a bite. Nip training him took two whole
days.
Anyway, in the five years we had him Pertwee ran us
$8,000 or so. He was the king of the weird medical
problems. Those costs included two adrenal surgeries,
a nephrectomy due to unilateral polycystic disease, an
Addisonian Crisis treated at an emergency clinic
(Pertwee didn't respond to prednisone at all), chronic
pancreatitis requiring rather expensive medication
added to his food, a total of three ultrasounds during
his life, heliobacter, etc... Liver cancer got him in
the end. Despite all of that Pertwee had a good life
for all but a few months in 1999 and was my most wired
and amazingly high energy weasel for all that time.
> I have read a little about insulinoma
> and am wondering if this is possible.
It is really common in geriatric ferrets so I I'd say
it's not only possible but actually quite likely.
> Is it diagnosed by blood tests?
One simple test for blood glucose.
> what is the usual treatment?
It can be treated with either medication (usually
prednisone or prenisolone/pediapred) or surgery. In a
ferret Tasha's age I'd go with medication to control
her blood glucose. It prednisolone doesn't do it for
her diazoxide can be added.
> My first inclination of course
> was to think she is very old for a ferret and
> dodderiness is probably understandable, however
> again, I have never had a ferret live past 7.
There can certainly be other causes besides insulinoma
but I still wouldn't assume it's normal. Once my Podo
was treated for insulinoma (surgery at age eight,
resumed pediapred at age nine) he was never wobbly
again and he lived to be just about 10 years old. The
same was true for my Kodo who lived to be about nine.
I've known ferrets who belonged to friends or ferret
club members who were still running around normally at
really advanced ages (like 11 or 12).
All the best,
Caity and the fantastic four
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