From:
"lunachick_2000"
Date: 2012-01-03 19:38:02 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Insulinoma, diazoxide and hind limb weakness
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, "Tressie" <tressiedu@...> wrote:
>
>
> However, keep in mind that according to studies (Chen, 2010; Quesenberry & Rosenthal, 2003; Weiss, Willams & Scott, 1998; Caplan et al., 1996) 52% of ferrets remained hypoglycemic after surgery with the reported disease-free intervals ranging from 0 to 23.5 months.
>
Given Sissy's history of severe IBD and statistics like the above, my (experienced, published on ferrets) vet and I do not feel that surgery is a good option for this girl. The IBD is under control at the moment through diet and what until the onset of insulinoma was a very small daily dose of prednisone, but the onset of her IBD was so severe that she was not expected to survive it. She's tough, but the vet has been pretty firm about not putting her through surgery given how sensitive her guts are.
Should have mentioned that Sissy's 0.1ml dose of 10mg.ml prednisone is twice per day, accompanied by a carnivore care snack. I wish we could do three times per day, but with our work schedules we could not maintain that consistently on a day to day basis. After talking to a few people here I will talk to my vet about switching to prednisolone, because it sounds like there is a chance Sissy may respond more strongly to prednisolone than she currently responds to straight prednisone. If not, or if she declines again, we'll add the diazoxide.
I am still not entirely clear on whether the diazoxide can be expected to help given the compound nature of her problems (IBD, likely lymphoma, adrenal, insulinoma and I left out the mild heart murmur, she hit the geriatric jackpot), and my vet is concerned about the effect it might have on her stomach and intestinal linings, but it seems like it's worth a try. That's the only way to know for sure.
Last night she dragged a nearly full roll of paper towels from the bedroom, where they definitely don't belong, to the opposite end of the apartment behind the tv stand in the living room, where paper towels *obviously* belong, so she's still got some strength and spunk. Like all of us, I just want to make this time as comfortable as possible for her.
Thanks,
Regina
[With a heart issue involved the vets my ferrets have seen would not consider surgery either. Prednisolone and diazoxide may well be your best possibility. Please disregard anything I've written about surgery as obviously it doesn't apply to Sissy's case. --Moderator (CMM)]
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/