Hello.  My ferret Mikette has had insulinoma for quite a while.  She is
on pedia pred and diaoxide, with a BG in the 80's-90's, she has slight
tremors a bit of the time.  I do not consider her a candidate for
surgery.  She is a trooper though, and has been dealing with this like
it's nothing.  I was wondering about others who have had ferrets on meds
for insulinoma.  It sounds like although meds control the insulinoma, it
is just a matter of time.  If so, were there any signs or symptoms when
the end was near.  I hate to bring up such a negative thing, but I would
like to know what to expect, to be prepared and to help Mikette.
 
I thank you for any help.
Risa
 
Here is a history:
She was borderline BG (70's) in 8/02 and not given meds, but put on high
protein duck soup.  BG slowly rose to 96 in 7/03.  She was then diagnosed
with a tumor and put on 1.8 ml pedia pred (5ml per 5mg) twice a day.
Further tests showed no tumor, and she was slowly weaned off the pred
from 10/03 to 12/03 (on pred her stomach enlargened and she became
lethargic).  Tens days after going off the pred she developed tremors and
was put back on the pred.  Because of her lethargic reaction with the
pred we tried a combo of Pred and Diaoxide.  She is currently on .2ml
pedia pred and .2ml diaoxide twice a day.  She is active, still has the
large stomach (can't do much when active), and has slight tremors.  Her
BG is checked about every month and has been low 80's to low 90's.
[Posted in FML issue 4529]