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Post by exurkun on Dec 18, 2010 23:47:52 GMT -5
Hello everyone, never posted before but had a question so here it goes! About three months ago my ferret (about 5 years old give or take one) was acting lethargic and shedding hair on his stomach, neck, and tail. After a trip to the vet, he drew blood and said that he had insulinoma and three months until he would start seizing and have to be put down. Three months in the future, today I was holding him and noticed that he was acting fine and almost all of his fur had grown back! He also seemed to feel fat in a good way. The only thing I can think of is we just switched from Marshalls to Zupreem, but the Marshalls bag was exceptionally big so maybe it had expired with a year or more of being open? So please be blunt with me, is this possible? Obviously I don't want to think he's getting better and watch him pass a week later. Is it possible that he could have recovered from insulinoma, or that it was misdiagnosed? Thanks for your time
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Post by goingpostal on Dec 19, 2010 0:44:00 GMT -5
You need to find a new ferret vet ASAP, yours is obviously clueless and downright dangerous to a sick ferret! Insulinoma can be managed for quite a while with pred and feedings, a ferret with this disease shouldn't be left to suffer without treatment which is really cheap as well. Hair loss is not a sign of insulinoma, that sounds like adrenal disease, which again, can be treated somewhat with various things, surgery, lupron, etc. It is likely his hair is growing back due to the change of season, it's not uncommon for adrenals to do that.
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Post by bluemoose on Dec 19, 2010 2:31:06 GMT -5
I agree that sounds more like adrenal than insulinoma. It is unfortunately difficult to find a good ferret vet. Many of the vets who treat ferrets know less about them than their owners which is just sad. I'd start looking for a new one. That's really odd he offered you no form of treatment even if he did misdiagnose. It's also possible your ferret has both adrenal and insulinoma.
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Post by goingpostal on Dec 19, 2010 10:32:39 GMT -5
Oh and as far as misdiagnosis, do you know what the vet tested? Insulinoma is diagnosed with a blood glucose test, if that's what they did you should be able to call and see what it was.
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Post by miamiferret2 on Dec 19, 2010 10:47:26 GMT -5
your ferret has adrenal disease. get a different vet and ask for a deslorelin implant. where do you live? as for the insulinoma, it can only really be confirmed with a 4 hour fasting blood test where they check the blood gluclose. i would say anything under 80 is very suspicious. another way is to do an ultrasound. but the pancreatic tumors are usually so small that they cannot be seen. a ferret can live a long time with insulinoma. high protein, low carb food, pediapred and in cases where pediapred does not control the blood glucose, diaxozide (proglycem) is used along with pediapred.
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Post by sherrylynne on Dec 19, 2010 12:19:40 GMT -5
And here's a link to help find a ferret vet in your area: www.ferret-universe.com/vets/vetlist.aspIf you can't find anything on there, call the closest ferret shelter, and ask them who they use. To be honest, I don't think I'd be taking ANY animal to that vet, let alone a ferret!
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Post by Heather on Dec 19, 2010 12:49:46 GMT -5
Get yourself a ferret vet or at least a vet that will work with you to help research what's wrong with your furbaby. There is no cure for insulinoma. The symptoms you describe "could" be adrenal or a combination of adrenal and insulinoma but....but...it could also be seasonal shed (though not likely from what you describe). The blood work is the important one. If, the blood glucose level was low or borderline (this could have been resolved temporarily by the change of diet, if it covered the necessary components needed by the ferret.....it will only be temporary) Insulinoma, isn't an immediate death sentence, it can be easily treated and you can get at least a couple of years more than described by your present vet. I've got a little girl who's being controlled by pred and diet (raw), she's doing great. She was diagnosed over a year ago. If it's adrenal then there are things you can do to assist her with this as well. Again, research on line is probably your best bet to educate yourself about this disease as well. Only my Pooka has lost her coat with adrenal, the rest of my brats have gorgeous coats. Ferrets are very difficult to treat...it's usually by a method of eliminating symptoms. These two diseases, adrenal and insulinoma, are both very common. Both have painful and fatal consequences if left untreated.....if properly treated and diagnosed most ferrets can live comfortably for at least a couple more years, sometimes even better than that. What you need is a good vet to get a good diagnosis and take it from there. ciao
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