Kim writes
>I STILL think that treating an insulinomic ferret with an improved
>diet and as little steroid as possible is the way to go.

Agreed. But I think one of Julie's points is that you can't know how
successful your treatment is unless you test the ferret's blood sugar.
In MANY ferrets, low blood sugar can develop so slowly that the owner
will only notice the older ferret sleeps more and plays less. Not until
the blood sugar becomes critically low will some ferrets show the more
obvious symptoms of staring into space, drooling or seizures.

When I first started making Bob's Chicken Gravy, I was also able to
lower my first ferret Belle's pred dose for a long period of time. But
by periodically checking her blood sugar, I knew when it was time to
increase the dose again.

Testing a ferret's blood sugar need not be any more stressful than it
is for a human. It can be a critical part of maintaining health for
both.

Linda Iroff

[Posted in FML 5508]