From:
kazpat1@comcast.net
Date: 2007-09-01 04:16:40 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Re:Safety of sugar substitues
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
A few corrections. Hypoglycemia is not 'pre diabetic". Pre diabetic refers to insulin resistance in adults that can be caught on a fasting glucose test if it is above 110 but below 130 where diabetic ranges are considered. Sometimes it may refer to high insulin levels hinting at some insulin resistance which eventually leads to diabetes.
People also can get hypoglycemic- usually not a chronic problem, unless related to diet, illness, or underlying problem, or from not eating, taking diabetes medication and not eating,etc. It is usually not from insulinoma like ferrets get, but rarely people also can get insulinoma.
Ferrets can get diabetes, but rare. They can also get diabetes after long term insulinoma probably from prednisone long term- or post surgery from insulinoma ( although both are pretty uncommon).
I have had some success with surgery for insulinoma on one case, and another not so great- but the problem is how much pancreas is affected and can be safely removed- the insulinomas are sometimes very very small at surgery and hard to pick up- so even though larger ones may be removed, or more likely a partial removal of the pancreas- still smaller ones can be in there and later the ferret may return to insulinoma.
There is some debate on sugar in the insulinoma diet, one problem with sugar- it is not a great way to raise blood sugar except in an emergency situation. It goes up quick, but in response insulin is pumped out and it is used quickly, leading to some rebound low sugar again. It doesn't produce long , stable blood sugars ( same goes for carbohydrate)- protein is best.
now in resistance cases, or extreme low sugars it may be needed in the treatment of insulinoma.
I have had some luck with proglycem ( diazoxide??sp) instead of or with prednisone- it is more expensive though but seems to work better for my last 2.
Patty
-------------- Original message --------------
From: tansy <tansyhl@yahoo.com>
Hi Michelle and Renee, I appreciate your answers, but actually
they do not answer my question. I also have hypoglycemic
tendencies, and avoid sugar as much as possible, but
the whole disease process is completely different in
ferrets. One of the main reasons people who are
hypogylycemic need to avoid sugar, and why they are
sometimes called "pre-diabetic" is because if they
need to keep producing excessive amounts of insulin
their pancreas will eventually stop functioning, and
they will then become diabetics. This process does
not exist in ferrets, it is the insulinomas that cause
the excess insulin, and every ferret I've ever had
that had successful surgery returned to normal insulin
production. I have never heard of an insulinomic
ferret becoming diabetic (exhaustion of the pancreas),
though it would be interesting if it's happened, so
it's never really made sense to me that there is this
mania for eliminating sugar in insulinomic ferrets. In
fact, I have a friend who is a very experienced
shelter operator who lets her insulinomic ferrets have
a couple fruit loops a day which actually seems to
help stabilize their blood sugar (the ferrets seem to
know how many fruit loops they need to get their own
blood sugar right). I am not advocating this, and I
highly recommend surgery by a very experienced ferret
vet, but I still think many people equate the
processes that cause hypoglycemia in people to those
in ferrets and it's NOT the same. Maybe someone at
some point can answer my question ; )
thanks
Val, shelter Mom, not a vet
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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