From:
"Clover Williams"
Date: 2008-01-26 03:34:58 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Addison's questions
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Butter is now bilateral. The vet said she was able to tie the tumor off to remove it, and
didn't seem concerned about Addison's. When I pressed, she said I could always bring him
in if he started vomiting or being lethargic, or if he stopped eating. And when I asked what
I should do if these things happened when she was unavailable, she gave me pred
(suggested dosage 1.25 mg).
Now, past posts and the miamiferret article suggest a more proactive approach, so I'm
really confused now about what to do. The most conservative recommendations I've seen
say to start with pred, then move to pred and percortin if needed. Percortin seems to be
widely preferred over the other med--I forget what it's called. I've also seen
recommendations to just go to that combo immediately. Which is the current thinking
among ferret vets?
And if I start with just pred, as some sources suggest, what would be a good propylactic
dosage? (I'm assuming the 1.25 recommended by this vet was meant to treat some sort of
crash, and that a prophylactic dosage would be different.) And if I go with both, what is
the percortin dosage? Would my local nonferret vet have that on hand and be able to
administer it (as the one who did the surgery is 400 miles away)?
If I just wait for a "crash" (or whatever it would be called in Addison's) as this vet seemed
to advise, how much time would I have at that point? In other words, is this wait and see
approach actually practical for someone with a day job, or would I be likely to come home
too late? And how do I monitor his condition? Which, if any, of the danger signs my vet
mentioned are conclusive, and are there other signs she didn't mention? He's lethargic, but
only a tiny bit more than usual (even as a youngster, he was never a ball of fire), but he's
eating like it's his job. He has suffered from depression and associated wasting a couple of
times in his lifetime, and was treated with .1 of pred short-term (two weeks) to counter
the wasting. I understand that blood values are the final "tell," but since I can't monitor
blood values on an ongoing basis, I'd like something else to go on.
What's this about treating with table salt? Is that just for a crash, or can it also be
prophylactic? And again, what would be the dosage in each of these contingencies?
Finally, if I do get blood values, will the .2 of pred twice daily that I'm giving him (because
I'm truly afraid to give him nothing while I'm gone all day) skew the results? (I don't know
whether that dose is enough to help, but I do know that the risk it poses over a few days is
smaller than the risk of not giving it. I hope someone here can correct me if it's wrong.)
Anything else I need to know?
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