Perhaps I missed the original post on Gushi's insulinoma.  The latest one
speaks of him taking duck soup three times a day and he apparently is still
having seizures.  Is he on Prednisolone and Diazoxide?  If not, he should
be.  If he's still having seizures while on these drugs, I would not
hesitate to do surgery.
 
I do a LOT of surgery on ferrets six to nine years old, especially for
insulinoma.  Even the worst of them do quite well with anesthesia.  If
insulinoma is his only real problem, you have nothing to lose by trying.  A
small anesthetic risk is far outweighed by the potential benefits and extra
time you could buy him.  Partial pancreatectomy has been very successful in
giving these ferrets a very good quality of life.
 
If you do decide to have the surgery, you can always have his teeth cleaned
at the same time.
 
Dr. K.
[Posted in FML issue 2706]