>Skittles has had bloodwork done to confirm her insulinoma.  April 8th I
>found her seizuring, and she almost died on tuesday.  She had previously
>been diagnosed with adrenal disease thru symptoms and ultrasound.  We
>think the fluid is from tumors possibly.  Cytology from the fluid didnt
>show much. ...
>
>The lasix was to reduce the abdominal swelling.  Her liver and kidneys
>were normal in recent bloodwork.
 
Insulinomae and adrenal neoplasias are not unusual in ferrets, but neither
causes ascites in the normal forms which is why I think that something
else is possibly going on.  Certainly, tumors elsewhere are possible
causes, but cardiomyopathy, liver problems, or kidney problems are more
common.  You said elsewhere that the vet checked the kidneys and liver,
so the next step is to look at the heart and look for tumors.  If the
little on were our's we'd go with heart and abdominal x-rays and
ultrasounds.  Makes sense to check the most common causes first, and
meanwhile to avoid anything that could worsen any such problem till there
is an actual diagnosis, no reason to risk worsening the situation.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can be hard to find but fortunately it is
the less common form in ferrets.  For info on cardiomyopathy in ferrets
if it is that look in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-List
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc
http://geocities.com/sukieslist .
 
Think I'd be inclined to check into the possibility of lymphoma, too,
esp.  if any nodes are up.  The vet can pull a node and have it biopsied.
We have had one with lymphoma caused insulinoma who also shared other
problems with Skittles, so it's something to try to rule out.
 
I'm not a vet but over 20 years I sure have learned that ascites is a
symptom which calls for being careful and diligent -- one to take very
seriously, I'm afraid.
 
I'm sorry that Skittles had such a rough grande mal seizure.  Often
meds have to be adjusted and sometimes more than one used (such as a
combination of Prednisone and Proglycem, or at times also with sugar
given if the case is advanced or is something like lymphoma rather than
insulinoma, or all three).  There are also ones who are not as responsive
to meds as one would like.
 
In your spot I'd think about surgery to look around, remove the bad
adrenal, remove any insulinomae found, and sample some nodes -- all for
pathology -- unless the ferret or the vet is not up to it -- IF the
heart is okay.  If the heart is not okay then surgery is out.
 
You need to find out why he seized so markedly even after being on meds,
and why he has the ascites.
 
Hope this helps some.
[Posted in FML issue 3760]