From:
psessoms@gmail.com
Date: 2006-11-01 02:46:47 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] RE: A discussion of drugs
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
>I know that pred is cheaper than the others, and that the >proglycem is specific to the insulinoma. Is it true that if we >use pred first for this that we would cause the ferret to be >resistant to its effects if needed later?
Renee, interesting topic! I'm not qualified to address the larger concepts, but regarding insulinoma meds, I have a tiny bit of feedback.
I have *not* heard that giving pred first will make proglycem less effective. I have, however, heard that pred given for an extended period will make chemotherapy agents (like doxorubicin, for instance) less effective. I've tried giving proglycem earlier in the course of insulinoma in order to reduce the pred dose sooner, since my ferrets do actually get really fat and squishy on higher doses of pred. I've had about as much luck adding it later as I have adding it earlier. Some respond, some don't.
Dexamethasone - have only used it rarely. Seems to work about as well as pred, maybe a little better. Vet seems to worry about its side effects more than those of pred, though.
I've had several ferrets become diabetic while on pred for insulinoma. They have reverted to normal BG's and then insulinoma again later, after the pred is reduced and eventually stopped.
Has anyone else tried Octreotide for insulinoma? I tried it on one after researching it and learning that in at least one study, about half of dogs with insulinoma responded favorably to it. It did not change anything in the ferret we tried it on, but that is n=1. Ferret vet texts usually just mention the name in passing as something that's been tried with "equivocal" results but don't discuss it in detail (that's from memory, have not looked it up).
Anecdote, anecdote. But anyway, yeah, that's it for me and insulinoma drugs.
-Pam S.
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