I meant to send this message to this list yesterday and sent it to another
by mistake.
 
I am not a vet, nor have I played one on TV.
 
I've had two here within four weeks with the same symptoms.  One was a
shelter guy, Schemp, the other, one of my personal ferrets, Chumley.
 
The first, Chumley, I thought was insulinoma.  The symptoms were "classic"
with the exception of the bright red foot pads.  It turned out, after
x-ray, to be pulmonary adema caused by congestive heart failure.  He's now
on Lasix to control his fluid build up and Enacard for his heart condition.
Two weeks later he tested with a low glucose which we can't treat with
surgery, pediapred or proglycem because of his heart trouble and the
medication used to treat them.
 
Schemp started with the same symptoms almost exactly one week ago.  X-rays
showed fluid and a slightly enlarged heart.  He's now on Lasix to control
his fluid and will probably go on digitalis to treat his cardiomyopathy.
A third ferret, Willie, one of our fosters, showed the same symptoms two
weeks ago, with the exception of the red foot pads.  His x-rays showed
fluid which was also treated with Lasix.  The underlying cause is more
suspect.  Although there's no definite outline of a tumor, there's reason
to believe there might be one in his chest.
 
I don't write this with the intent of setting off a panic.  Heat or
Insulinoma could be responsible, as well.
 
Cover all your bases.  If the symptoms persist and your ferret goes back
to the vet, ask for a fasting (four hour only) glucose and x-rays.
 
We've always, in the past, pumped up our ferrets with ferrevite or nutrical
before we fast them for any reason.  We've recently begun to suspect that
this will alter the true glucose results.  Theoretically, four hours later
the sugars should have cleared their system but we've had several who have
had normal readings when tested and two weeks later were low.  I'd still
recommend the extra boost before fasting but I'd recommend it more like
five or six hours prior to the test.  Remove the food four hours prior.
 
Good luck, and I hope everything works out!
 
Sharon
[Posted in FML issue 3417]