From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2007-08-22 18:08:58 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Bear
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
The FHL Archives have great info. You can link to them
from the homepage of the FHL or can go to them directly.
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
Apologies for repeating myself but this past post may PARTLY
come in useful. Not all parts will apply. Heck, not all parts
usually apply even for those for whom posts are first written.
Quoting:
Okay, first off, the intermittent eating is part of her
problem. You need to find something she likes to eat and
will eat often, plus try to make food always handy.
Second, giving just the volume doesn't say how much med
she is getting because the concentrations vary. What does the
bottle label say about mg/ml? Both are needed to figure the
dose in mg.
Third, is she getting Prednisone or Prednisolone? The liver
converts Prednisone to Prednisolone before it can be used
so if the liver is at all compromised then Prednisone won't give
as much bang as Prednisolone.
Fourth, how often is she getting her meds? The action time
for Preds is about 9 hours, so giving only once a day is usually
a bad idea. Twice a day usually suffices, but we've had and known
ferrets who need their daily dose divided into 3 times a day.
Fifth, has adding Diazoxide been tried?
Sixth, some have found more effect with injected steroids.
Seventh, if the meds no longer hold then oral sugars can help.
These are given during seizures, when meds have peaked, or
sometimes when the blood sugar problem is not insulinoma
but is another pancreatic growth such as lymphoma or carcinoma.
There are other things which others on the FHL can suggest
and plenty in the archives.
(See my signature for URLs.)
Be sure to read these:
EMERGENCY CARE FOR SEIZING FERRETS:
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/insulinoma.htm
There is more there, and be sure to read:
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/PDF/insulinoma.pdf
End quoting.
Also: make sure that you give any Pred with food! It can
also pay, if a dose is high to use Carafate (with the children's
liquid prep available from any pharmacy and some vets being
the easiest to give. Give Carafate separated from food and
separated from meds. It can interfere with some meds and
reduce or eliminate their desired actions that way, and if there
is too much food present it can't sink into the bad areas on the
stomach wall as well. See archives for more info on that.
Be sure to see also:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2210
(dosages)
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2165
(steroid alternative)
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2171
(multiple essential things to take into consideration)
Sorry for using this time saving technique, but each of these will
help you. The archives are a treasure chest! Take from them
freely to get needed info. I sure do.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/