From:
"Tressie"
Date: 2011-08-06 09:45:53 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Insulinoma...
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
A number of excellent points have been made by Jeff, Caitlyn, Jilli, Skyla and others. However, it does highlight that individuals vary considerably and underscores the complexity of the illnesses they acquire.
While it is true that responsiveness or lack thereof, to pred is not in itself diagnostic, it can be a strong indicator that something other than insulinoma is going on.
In my experience, those ferrets who had poor response to pred at the onset of treatment, without exception, ended up with either carcinoma or another condition. For example, most recently, with necrotic pancreatitis.
The point has been well made that taking a ferret with insulinoma into surgery should be undertaken only at the hands of a highly skilled and experienced ferret knowledgeable veterinary surgeon. And not all of us are so fortunate as to have access to such a clinician.
In an area where vets have limited or no experience with ferrets, surgery is not a viable option. Therefore, how to medically manage a ferret with suspected insulinoma becomes critically important. Back to my earlier point, if response to pred is poor or non-existent then it is reasonable to suspect another underlying cause. I would say, that a ferret who indeed has insulinoma and does not respond well to pred early on in the disease process, is the exception, and not the rule.
This is where the partnership with the attending veterinarian and if inexperienced, ideally, consultation with ferret expert veterinarians has to be pursued vigorously and proactively.
Tressie
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