Hello All,

I have a couple of things I would like to run past the list to see if
I'm just thinking I know too much or if it's really OK to question a
vet you don't know and even a vet you love & trust. (I do recognize
they're human too)

The 1st situation is a pair of ferrets who came to the shelter from a
very loving home. Surrenders due to divorce with owner having to move
back to HI where ferrets are not allowed. I've never received such
beautiful folders with surrenders before - one for each ferret, a
picture on the front, every medical record inside, evidence of adrenal
surgery, needle asperates, glucose levels, vaccines and one even has
pet insurance.

I was shocked though, when transport arrived and handed me a 4-5lb
ferret, 2-3 lbs of which is Pred Belly!! This ferret had 3 insulinoma
tumors removed last fall during adrenal surgery and has been on Pred
ever since. He had never had any siezures. I looked at the amount of
Prednisolone, .25ml 3xdaily......OK, the dosage on the bottle -
15mg/5ml......this is 3mg/ml Holy Moly this ferret is getting 2.25mg
of Pred per day!!

Am I nuts - or is this a LOT of Pred to start a ferret out on? I always
thought start out as low as you can and increase only to what you have
to to keep it controlled. His belly is rubbed bare of fur because it
drags on the floor and he's been free roam - so it's not from a total
lack of exercise, although he does have trouble getting around due to
his size.

The thing that really gets me is that there's a few vet reports of
glucose levels in the file after surgery & while on the Pred & they're
still all low - high 40's-mid 50's and the notes say the vet was short
clipping a claw to get the blood! Makes me wonder if they knew how to
get a good glucose reading or not.

Talked with my shelter vet, we're going to wean him back on the dosage
and keep an eye on his BG level as well as check his liver & kidney
function to see if they've been effected by the dosage. Poor little
guy - I think I'll put a little magic slider under his tummy to help
him get around w/o getting rug burn!! I think the previous vet thought
he was treating a cat!!

Situation #2 - I lived in Illinois for 40+ yrs and we had ECE big time
up there. We worked with it daily and I've seen my share of greenies -
everything from Spinach colored projectile poop to the green,
gelatinous blobs (sorry so graphic).

I have not seen a case of ECE since I moved to KY 7 yrs ago. I have,
however, seen a few ferrets that my vet has diagnosed as ECE. I have
no veterinary education, but I just disagree. We all know that whether
it be stress, a new cagemate, ulcers, IBD, it always shows up in the
litter pan. You can even have green in there. But if you have a ferret
with green or yellowish mucousy poops, and they live with a group of
other ferrets and it doesn't spread to any of them - I don't see how
this can be ECE........or at least not the same ECE I've seen in the
past. The kind that they'll come down with within 48 hours from
exposure, can come & go for months and which they can be carrier of
for a good 12 months.

So here I am - no vet education but at odds with a couple of vet
decisions/conclusions........am I OK to question these things or am I
wrong? Willing to admit to being wrong......I just want to be sure I
do right by the ferrets in my care!!

Thanks,
Jerri Carel
The Ferret Haven
Louisville, KY

[Posted in FML 5652]