Loopy, my last surviving ferret in my "business of 8", has been diagnosed
at the age of 6 (will be 7 in the spring) with insulinoma.  When tested
at the vet her BG was 46.  Her symptoms were drooling and pawing at her
mouth.  Sadly if she had shown signs of gazing or staring I missed them
because she has been blind for almost 2 years and has pretty much had the
(forgive the comparison) Stevie Wonder look for a while.
 
MY vet gave me prednisolone syrup for her 2X a day .14 ml.  Loopy is not
my first ferret to be on pred but this is the first time I got it from
the vet and not the Eckerd pharmacy.  I had 3 other ferrets on it, one
for insulinoma (biggie) and 2 for lymphoma (sassy and bootsie).  Biggie
and Bootsie would come to the cage door and take this stuff readily but I
dont remember Sassy objecting to it.  TOTALLY different story with Loopy,
she squirms so bad and I have to wrap her in a towel or blanket.  She
still absolutely fights me and that is just the beginning.  After I get
it down she thrashes her head and paws at her mouth spewing some of it
out.  She acts all crazy in her cage, gagging and wallowing in her
bedding.  I dont know what is going on.  So I called Eckerd and asked if
their prednisolone had sugar and alcohol in it and they said no (the
other ferrets took the pred from eckerd).  I picked up a prescription up
for my husband later that day and asked another clerk the same question
and she even brought me the bottle and it didnt have sugar or alcohol in
it.  So I dont understand how the others would lap it like it was a treat
and Loopy acts like I am feeding her bile.  I feel horrid giving it to
her.  I tried putting ferretone in the syringe too but that didnt really
work either although she loves ferretone.  I might try letting her get a
lick of ferretone after the syringe but that still isnt going to reduce
the drama of giving the pred.  Any ideas?
 
I also started giving her a gruel mixture of ground up chicken thighs
(Fat,skin, and meat) and her dry food ground up mixed with water(Iams
kitten).  The vet said I should try to keep her her blood sugar level
even by not giving her too many carbohydrates.  She has been on Iams
kitten her whole life (used to use Pro Plan kitten too) although I feed
my new additions Ferret Store ferret food/Mazuri ferret/and Iams kitten
mixture.  She seems to like this chicken (cooked)and iams kitten mixture
although honestly I feel a little scared with a perishable product in the
cage.  The vet said the cooked chicken diet would keep a little better
(in the cage)than feeding her raw chicken.  So if after a few hours she
hasnt eaten all the food in the bowl I throw it out and give her fresh.
I cooked a huge "family size package" of thighs and ground up in the food
processor till it was a paste.  Then I put it in ice cube trays and
freeze.  Store the cubes in ziploc bag and heat one cube per "meal".  It
works pretty well and is cheaper than baby food.
 
Thanks for any ideas and I apologize for the length of this post.
 
Rita
ps. I have been on this list less than 6 months and it has become as
important to me as my daily paper and coffee.
[Posted in FML issue 4373]