Never substitute the list a website, or personal experience for veterinary
care and testing.
 
M.R.C.: A vet appointment with testing (such as glucose tolerance, and
insulin levels) will give the numerical basis needed for deciding what
he has, what dosing is optimal, if he might be better off with Proclycem
or with a combination of medications (Many with insulinoma who are not
surgical candidates do best on a combination of Prednisone with Proglycem
or on only Proglycem), if his best shot would be surgery, if there is
something going on with his pancreas beyond simple insulinomae which might
require rapid surgery to be lifesaving, if something completely different
than your assumption is there in addition or instead, etc.
 
Do also, remember that diabetes is much harder to treat in ferrets but
there have been some with medication induced diabetes caused by dosing
being done WITHOUT test results numbers as a guide., if memory serves.
 
In addition, there is more than one thing which can cause a general
symptom such as unresponsiveness; some are improved in the short term by
Prednisone, but they are best corrected when caught early and treated in
different ways.  To not check could mean missing a window essential for
his survival.
 
Even after us having decades with ferrets it's not unusual to have
situations which simply can NOT be clear without testing; that's just a
fact of life.  It's complicated enough when a person has been through it
many times, and often confusing enough.  Look at Meeeteetse who can have
her blood sugar drop way down without her having the typical responses...
We each have to always learn.
 
For some people money is a concern; it may not be in your case.  Whatever
the situation, I will put down some money tips for the FML in general
because if they don't help you they may help others.  Remember that a large
percentage of people using "edu" addresses are students, and that every
one of us, pretty much, has had to learn budgeting skills at points over
the years.  If money is a concern for you (whoever you are...) -- or for
ANOTHER FMLer at any time -- then sometimes a vet will allow payments to be
staggered.  Others have been mentioned who have exchanged work for part of
the cost.  Money budgeting or such might not be useful for you, but could
help someone else.  Anyway, I don't tend to personally think that there are
good reasons to not provide vet care, but while I know that some assume
neglect right off I try to not do so.  Prefer to give the person a chance,
and to try to give enough info that many letters won't have to go back and
forth since it seems better for the FERRET for a person to be able to move
rapidly at times.  If it seems like I tend to place ferret medical needs
before human emotional comfort, I must admit to being guilty as charged
when I can't find a way to handle both.
 
Meeteetse news:
Options are being to run thin for 8 year old Meeteetse.  Even with her
meds the symptoms are returning and a new one has cropped up that could be
related to furthering lumbar-region back problems.  It's very possible that
she has lympho or a bone cancer.  A new steroid is possibly going to be
tried on an experimental basis "just in case" since it's likely worth the
try in case it might buy her a bit of quality time.  Even if it does, the
chances are that she's not very long for the world -- probably months at
very tip-top best.  Got to try for them, but answers get thin after a while
and become more and more experimental.  If and when it comes down to it
she'll get a mercy shot and likely a necropsy for learning.  The DES is
still helping some with the incontinence but less and less, especially of
the fecal incontinence, which also points to something glowing along the
spinal cord or major offshoots.  She just doesn't feel anything coming down
the pike till it's emerging many times, if I may be frank, but she has some
other things -- like positions she now actively dislikes -- which point to
on and off discomfort or pain.  Running out of things which have a chance
of helping her make the most of time left.
[Posted in FML issue 3166]