From:
Motor City Ferrets
Date: 2012-02-09 17:49:24 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Re: Insulinoma - More Info About Coco
To: "ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com" <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
Well of course I'm not a vet, but I must disagree with your vet. First of all, you never want to stop pred suddenly, but rather taper off. And the only treatment that does anything (chemo being totally ineffetive) in helping support a body fighting lymphoma is pred. So of course I therefore think he should be on pred for two reasons.
There are treatments for ulcers. If I had this critter with what you described, I would have treated the ulcers and continued on with the pred. The fact your vet didn't prescribe treatment for the ulcers leaves me concerned about the overall care plan from this vet, I must say. I never EVER skip ulcer treatment, as ulcers can be fatal! Now the regimen we use, flagyl + amoxi + carafate includes a med (flagyl) that tastes HORRIBLE, but I've seen it quite literally save lives. Carafate is a good idea, but I certainly don't think it's enough when ulcers are afoot.
Did you see my message where I mentioned the critter who was off pred for a time and did "well?" It can happen, but that doesn't mean it should be tried! There are two ailments here which all for pred in my opinion and experience. Now, how was the lymphoma diagnosed?
You know, there are lots of vets out there that treat ferrets but that doesn't mean they have lots of intense experience treating ferrets. So I'm concerned here about the recommendation to stop pred suddenly because of the ulcers and also to prescribe the most mild "treatment" for them. It's never a bad idea to get a second opinion. And again, something a website hails is just not good enough. Ever hear of brewer's yeast? For years people would tout the value of giving brewer's yeast to insuliomac ferrets, until someone figured out that BY will actually cause MORE trouble with insuliomac ferrets.
Years ago my husband took his ferret to a vet that, in hindsight, didn't have much intense ferret experience. When she didn't have a treatment for the insulinoma, he hit the web and came up with a website selling snake oil. He faithfully gave it to his ferret and watched her die after holding her through screaming seizures for hours, having no access to emergency care in the area he was in at the time (mid-90's, hard to find well experienced ferret vets back then). Still one of the regrets of his life, I think he would do physical harm to the snake oil salesman if he ever had occasion to meet him/her. Again, your ferret will have ups and downs. These routine fluctuations are not to be confused with doing any better worse on a totally unproven treatment.Â
And I suspect the reason your critter started to fail was due to the ulcers, which should have been treated whilst continuing the original treatment for the insulinoma, in my view. I treat critters or ulcers all the time; it's a frequent occurrence in the Shelter, where critters' worlds are turned upside down and stress is at maximum levels for so many, for a time.
Nanci
Motor City Ferrets
www.motorcityferrets.org
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