Hello All:
 
Six weeks ago I posted that we were beginning experimental adrenal
treatments using a relatively new (in ferrets anyway) drug named Anipryl.
I've been making weekly posts on what we've seen so far.
 
Quick background
----------------
Newone is an 8 year old neutered female who has had inoperable adrenal
tumors since she was 6.  Most of her hair is gone, but the use of colloidal
silver seems to have stabilized her disease.
 
Puck is a 6 year old albino neutered male, with intact scent glands.  He was
diagnosed with adrenal in 1995 and had the right adrenal removed (the easy
one).  This past Christmas he suffered a nasty bite to the neck which got
severely infected, had to be operated on, and which seemed to retrigger his
adrenal.  Hair regrowth in the wounded area was very slow, and his hair
began thinning out along portions of his spine and tail in classic adrenal
fashion.
 
In response to these problems, our vet suggested treatment with Anipryl,
which she has been using successfully in dogs.  Dosage is .5mg per day per
weasel, with the pill hidden in a raisin.  We began treatment on 2/20/98.
 
Results So Far
--------------
Our vet believed we would not see any results until about 1 month of
treatment.
 
This week was something of a setback in some ways.  We had noticed that Puck
seemed to be losing a bit of weight and was rather lethargic, both of which
we attributed to a very bad case of colds that were going around the group.
By Tuesday of last week we'd put him on Amoxy and set up an appointment with
our vet (who wanted to see how he and Newone were doing anyway).
 
Puck HAD lost weight, 6 ounces since the last time he'd been seen by the vet
(roughly a month prior).  He had a bad cold and, worse yet, an EXTREMELY low
blood sugar....he measured in at only 19!  No wonder he was lethargic.
 
We left Puck at the vet's overnight for glucose injections and further blood
tests.  He came home the next day just fine; once his sugar levels came back
up he started eating like a pig and has been doing so ever since.
 
Puck has always been prone to low blood sugar levels, something we first
encountered in him 3 years ago.  Our vet believes that he may have low-level
insulonomas (which can bring blood sugar levels down) and, having "gotten
down" due to the bad cold, just couldn't quite bring himself back out of the
pit.  Both we and she had seen this kind of thing before; we really *should*
have recognized it more quickly in Puck this time around.
 
At this point Puck is energetic again and recovering nicely.  His weight is
up just from the couple of days he's been back home, and he is continuing to
be treated with Amoxy as a precaution.  He's not bouncing off the walls yet,
but he's definitely perked up.
 
There is one good bit out of all this: Puck's low blood sugar is
CIRCUMSTANTIAL evidence (note the qualifier) that the Anipryl is indeed
treating his adrenal.  Adrenal tumors tend too raise blood sugars, while
insulonomas tend to lower them.  We had one ferret (Slinky) who had both and
remained in "balance" right up until her death.  Dr. Roeder believes that,
based on our history regarding Puck's blood sugar problems, that if his
blood sugars are low now it may be because there's no longer a balance
between the insulonomas and the adrenal.  This is speculative, of
course....it COULD all be the result of Puck not eating enough as a result
of his cold.  Only further blood tests, or surgegy, will be able to
determine this one way or the other.
 
We're still trying to determine what to do about the (possible) insulonomas.
Dr. Roeder may ask to do an exploratory when Puck's treatment is done, both
to check the status of the adrenal and to do a search and destroy of any
insulonoma cancers.  We haven't decided yet whether or not we want to do
this; if his sugars stay up with regular food and care we may not.
 
Puck's hair is virtually all grown in now.  There's still some scabbing
where he was wounded on his neck, and the hair there is more ratty, but his
coat has been completely restored.  By comparison Minx, who had adrenal
surgery at nearly the same time as Puck began his treatment, has only about
half-length hair in the areas she was shaved.
 
Newone remains much the same as she was, bouncy and alert.  Her weight was
identical to her last checkup 4 weeks ago, and she remains energetic when
she's up.  Dr. Roeder confirmed the stubbly hair growth along her tail and
flanks and was duly impressed.
 
 
Summary
-------
  Puck:    Hair regrown; sugar levels low but coming back; doing good
  Newone:  Hair growth short and patchy in small areas, healthier skin,
            alert and happy
 
Steven and Colleen
[Posted in FML issue 2270]