From:
"Meryl Faulkner"
Date: 2009-07-11 16:24:29 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Diarrhea in a ferret on prednisolone
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I took in Sandy, a cinnamon rescue ferret who is approximately 6.5 years old weighing 2.6 pounds, in early May 2009 along with a 4.5 yr old DEW. The DEW had a variety of problems (treated with surgery), Sandy only had some problems walking, checked by Xray at that time and it decided it was a congenital skeletal problem. However, he continued to be lethargic, blood work on 4/14 indicated he had insulinoma (bg 55). He was started on prednisolone 2mg (1mg/ml), however his bg remained low, so in June my vet suggested adding diazoxide (50mg/ml)at 0.2 ml twice daily. Dose was increased to .25 and by end of June bg was high 70's. It has remained in the 70-80 range, however some weeks ago I noticed one of the (several) ferrets I have had diarrhea, and it turned out to be Sandy. Its almost as though he is dribbling poop in spurts. He does have slightly thinning coat - has not had an adrenal panel yet. Until I can take him in for another check up on Monday, I'm going to try pumpkin fo
r his runny stools. My question is how often is pumpkin given, do you syringe feed it, do ferrets find it palatable, and should it be given before the pred (I usually give him chicken before the pred and diazoxide). I'm assuming that its just canned uncooked pumpkin puree that is for pies?
Are there any other possibilities for the diarrhea? I vaguely remember my veterinarian saying that adrenal problems can cause a condition where tissue analogous to the prostate enlarges -can that cause constriction of the rectum? The runny stools are in narrow 1/8 inch wide trails. None of the other ferrets have any diarrhea. Two small females are on diazoxide and pred, but they are getting 1/2 a 5mg prednisone tablet twice a day. I wondered if the liquid prednisolone has a bad effect on the GI tract and whether switching to the tabs would be better. I know that the prednisolone is the better drug since prednisone has to be processed by the liver, but both he and I would prefer not to have to deal with trails of runny poop. Any input would be helpful on cause of this and use of pumpkin (until I can take him in on Monday) would be helpful.
Meryl
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