From:
"Tressie"
Date: 2009-06-30 01:38:13 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Extreme obesity
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I have a 4 year-old ferret Sampson who initially came in last summer as a surrender. At the time he was skin and bones, dehydrated and had diarreah. This poor guy has had ongoing health issues, recurring ulcers, struvite uroliths, colitis, drug allergies, insulinoma. He had a splenectomy and a large benign tumor removed in January. And he has gained extreme weight since then to the point of obesity.
He received a Deslorelin implant a couple of weeks ago and his weight at that time was 5 1/2 lbs. He is also on Diazoxide, which until now has been managing his insulinoma. However, he had what I suspect was an insulinoma seizure tonight, i.e, disoriented and dragging his back legs. I rubbed maple syrup in his gums and followed that with A/D and it passed.
My vet and I don't know what to do about his extreme weight gain. We talked about putting him on a reducing cat food but another vet, more experienced said that was a bad idea. I can't get him to exercise no matter what and at this point he is so big he has trouble getting around.
My vet didn't want to put him on pred because of his history of recurring infections. And now with his weight not sure pred is a good idea.
I'm thinking about asking for a full blood panel to see if there might be something else going on. We suspect he may have a thyroid issue but have received no response from the vets we contacted who are researching hypothyroidism in ferrets. At this time there is no established baseline to go on and so we don't even know what to test for.
Ideas, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Tressie
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