Bear was rushed to the vet yesterday morning after I found him in sugar
shock (or whatever it is we call it for insulinomics).  He was limp and
drooling.  Never a good sign in a ferret.  I got a couple of licks of
Ferritvite in him as well as about .4ccs of caro syrup.  He was better by
the time we got to the vets, but not great.  The vet checked his blood
sugar and whistled.  Said it was very low and must have been horribly
low before I got some sugar in him.  He also mentioned that all of the
ferrets he had done insulinoma surgery on in the last little bit had the
insulinoma come back after a month.  He said it usually didn't manifest
again for a year or so.  He was befuddled.  Has anyone had anything
similar happening in their part of the world?
 
Bear is now on steroids morning and night.  By yesterday evening when we
got home he was okay.  He's still sleeping quite a bit, but he's moving
around and eating (and pooping!) just fine.  I may need to tweak the
dosage a bit, but hopefully no more rounds of sugar shock.  Unfortunately
he hates the taste of the steroids (dexamethasone).  All my other fuzzies
lap it right on up.  Bear throws a fit.  I've been mixing it with
Ferretvite and that helps a little.  I really want to take him to the
nearest pharmacy and have them let us sample the flavorings to see which
one he likes best, but I'm pretty sure they won't let me take him in.
Maybe we'll try the drive-thru!  For Bear we do need the "Smelly Old
Sock" flavor mentioned earlier by someone!
 
Has anybody else seen or heard of a shift in insulinomas?  As far as I
know the vet hasn't changed anything about his surgical process.  He's a
great ferret vet and does multiple surgeries a week.  He does a great job
on my guys and has for years.  All of my insulinomics have been Marshall
ferrets, but the others didn't have it rebound this fast.  And that
doesn't explain all the other owners ferrets.  We all feed different
foods, treats, etc.  I'm stumped.  Any thoughts?
 
thanks,
Anne (with Meisa, Bear and Claudius the Bonus Ferret)
[Posted in FML issue 5168]