From:
"nissaj2011"
Date: 2011-08-05 02:08:20 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Insulinoma...
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Hi, i'm a new member on the FHL! I've owned ferrets for about 4 years now, I have had up to 6 at a time. These little guys are my babies! :) Unfortunately, I have lost 2 in the past year from insulinoma (Big Fatty also had adrenal disease, and other ailments that went undiagnosed despite multiple specialists ect....).
I now have a 3rd insulinomic ferret. Fisher is 3.5 years old (will be 4 this fall). He was diagnosed in April. He gets fed 4x/day a home made grain free soup - boiled chicken, one can of EVO 95% meat and an egg added. I then liquify it and freeze in ice cube trays. He has gained weight from this - he was 2lbs and he is now up to 3.50lbs.... The heaviest he has been! He also has access to kibble 24/7 (DFS original and 8 in 1 ultimate).
His BG initially was 47, we started him on Prednisolone .25ml/BID and increased the dose to .30 after lack of improvement. His bottle of pred says 30ML PrednisoLONE 5mg/mL. He gets .30ml 2x/day. I just had him to the vet again as he didn't seem to be getting any better, and we had a bad weekend last week with him (a mini-crash, just drooling). He also does not tolerate heat or being in the car on the way to the vet - he will crash on the way there from being so stressed about going to the vet which also lowers his BG a lot just on the way there....So I don't think we've ever truly gotten a good BG on him. (am currently waiting for my meter I ordered for him to come in so I can test at home!).
His BG went up to 54, and after his mini crash this past weekend it was at 40. Vet decided to try Diazoxide BID. So he gets .35ml of that along with the pred (which she wants to wean him off of). I'm scared to ween him off it as he is very sensitive to any change, and if he doesn't get his pred at 7 daily, he will start to drool. I'm not sure if his pred dose can be increased any more at this level, and i'm also not sure why he's not doing better (he seems to be more tired since starting the diazoxide).... I know insulinoma is a progressive disease and all ferrets respond different....
But is there anything I can do for him or ask his vet to help him start feeling a bit better? He is so young, and I was hoping for a good turn around for him, but he does not seem to be doing any better, which has me really upset as we lost Spaz almost a year ago this month, and Big Fatty was put to sleep in February of this year...and I keep having flash backs to them and how terrible it was.... I can't take losing another one of my babies :( I'm trying my best with him...But any suggestions as to what I can do, or suggest to his vet (increasing the diazoxide, increasing the pred...anything) to start helping him feel better would be great.
Fisher also has Adrenal Disease but is doing well with that. So i'm not sure if he has some other thing going on or what. His lymphnodes did appear to be swollen (on the neck, armpits, inside hind legs...) but I did have the vet aspirate them and look at them under the slide and it was just fatty deposits, she didn't see any bacteria, or signs of lymph cancer. She is assuming because he gained the weight so fast (in a month or so) that fatty deposits formed.
I just wish my baby were better :( I hate seeing him like this. Thank you for reading!
(Sorry so long!! lol)
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