From:
"merylfaulkner"
Date: 2007-09-17 21:12:53 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] older ferret with insulinoma, one previous surgery, on pediapred but....
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I have an approximately 5 year old ferret named Nicole (a rescue so
age is a bit of a guess) that I have had since August of 2004. About
one year later she developed hair loss and had adrenal surgery, during
which the veterinarian removed some nodules from her pancreas. Nicole
has since been on lupron three monthly depot, and her coat looks good,
but her blood sugar decreased from about 80 which was her slightly low
normal, to the high 60's by July 2007, and she was started on
prednisolone syrup(3mg/ml)0.3ml (ie 1mg)once daily(I was given the
option of giving it once daily, or dividing it into two doses - which
I did.
Her blood glucose was checked in August and was still a little low, so
her dose was increased to 2mg. I give her 1mg (1 ml of pediapred)
twice daily, but noticed recently she is getting shaky again in the
morning. My question is when I take her in again in a few days for a
check up,should I ask if it would be worth doing an exploratory and
removing some pancreatic tissue, or ask about trying diazoxide - which
seems to be one of the things that is sometimes mentioned in the FHL.
Also, is there a maximum prednisolone dose that can be tolerated? I've
read the archives and gone to the Miami Ferret and Dr Williams sites
but it is really not addressed. I'm going to ask about dividing the
2mg dose into 0.65mls three times a day - from what I've read at FHL
most people find that divided doses work better.
I'm curious about the surgical option because I recently heard a talk
given by another vet who is an ferret/exotic vet specialist who stated
that he has had success doing multiple adrenal surgeries and
pancreatic surgeries on older animals, however the vet I use knows
Nicole, I trust her judgment, and she has a lot of experience with
ferrets in her practice. Any thoughts/suggestions/advice?
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