http://www.smartgroups.com/message/viewdiscussion.cfm?
gid=1423922&messageid=11864
 
[Sukie Note: Part of a discussion and I'll have to see if the vet
who told me the earlier info has those studies handy... It will be
interesting at some point to see if one study is better done than another
even if it is just that newer methods allow for that rather than design,
or if there are nuances due to study design or individual variation, or
what.]
 
Hi Sukie,
Sukie what study are you using when you say insulinomas are not
responsive to dietery sugars?  In dogs and people insulinomas are
responsive to dietry sugars.  A new article called: A nutritional
approach to the prevention of insulinomas in the pet ferret (in the
Journal of exotic mammal medicine & surgery) describes how dietery sugars
and carbohydrates cause insulinomas and should be avoided in ferrets with
insulinomas.  (JEMM&S, volume 2.2, Dec 2004, By Dr Mark Finkler)
 
As we know when we treat insulinoma ferrets with seizure activity, when
you give too much dextrose IV you do get a yo-yo effect with the glucose
level going up then crashing back down again.  I am pretty sure the same
thing is happening with ingested sugar and carbohydrates.  Thus it is
better to supplement insulinoma ferrets with a high protien, high fat
item (ie Gerber's 2nd stage chicken/turkey baby food, Hill's a/d, meat,
eggs, etc).  Ferrets can use amino acids from the protein to make glucose
and use the fat to make glycerol.
 
Jerry Murray, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 4730]