Kimberly Trusty <[log in to unmask]> wrote on 8/4/2007, 3:00 AM:
>I need HELP. Bob has been diagnosed with diabetes. The problem is there
>seems to be so little literature on it that nobody knows how to treat
>it in a ferret. He spent 3 days in the hospital and they let him come
>home today.
Hi Kimberly,
I am sorry to hear about Bob. Diabetes in ferrets is not very common,
but does happen occasionally. Generally, ferrets are more susceptible
to insulinoma, where the blood glucose level is too low, instead of too
high as it is with diabetes. However, ferrets with diabetes are treated
just like any other animal (including humans) with diabetes - with
insulin.
Last year I had one of my older girls turn diabetic. We put her on
daily injections of Lantus (INSULIN GLARGINE) from Avantis
Pharmaceuticals, and she did very well until she passed from a heart
problem (unrelated to the diabetes) 6 months later. Lantus is a fairly
new and slow release form of insulin that is good at helping to
maintain a steady and safe blood glucose level.
Lantus is sold only for human use, but can easily be obtained from a
pharmacy with a vet's prescription. Here is a link to the Lantus web
page.
There are veterinary insulins available as well. PZI is one that many
vets use in ferrets with diabetes. However, my vet has reported having
trouble stabilizing ferrets on the commonly used veterinary insulins,
including PZI.
Diet can also play a role in helping a diabetic ferret maintain a
healthy blood glucose level. Diets high in protein are the best. High
protein diets will help to avoid BG spikes.
I found it was also necessary to obtain a blood glucose meter, so I
could monitor m ferrets BG level. Unfortunately, the symptoms of a high
BG level are similar to the symptoms of a low BG level, and so it is
important to know what the actual level is. You can not just go by the
symptoms.
Here is a link to a post from Dr. Murray about treatment of diabetes
in ferrets from the Ferret Health List Archives. It has some excellent
information. Because this post is older, it was written before Lantus
was available. I don't know if Dr. Murray would still recommend PZI
over Lantus or not. Last summer, I did discuss Lantus with him, and at
that time he had not tried using it on ferrets. This post does give
dosing instructions, and also other useful information.
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG6592
Another post that might help:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG2385
--
Danee DeVore
International Ferret Congress Health Issues Coordinator
http://www.ferretcongress.org
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit: http://www.ferretadv.com
You can help fight ADV!
Visit: http://help4adv.terrabox.com/
[Posted in FML 5690]
|
