Dear June
 
>I wanted him to be compfrotable, after a blood panel which EVERYTHING was
>in the normals range, and testing his BG, which Oddly enough was 108..it
>has never been that!  We chalked it up to a side affect of his disease.
>I asked for a shot of dex.  The Docs I worked for debated the issue,
>worrying about GI ulcers, and maybe they are right, but i wanted him to
>be compfortable NOW.  6 hours after the shot there was a remarkable
>improvement, able to go the the bathroom without laying in it.  I know
>I am reaching for straws.  When a ferret is not a surgical candidate, and
>they start presenting with this..how long does he have?  Was the Dex a
>bad Idea?  I also truly believe his right adrenal is failing.
 
Actually, we don't know what "this" is - hindlimb weakness and ataxia can
be a sign of many problems, and the majority of them have nothing to due
with the spinal cord.  You are assuming that there is a spinal cord injury,
but I see hindlimb weakness as a common presenting sign of any disease that
makes a ferret weak.  We can probably rule out the insulinoma as the cause,
as the blood sugar was normal.
 
On the good side, you don;'t have to worry about an ulcer with a shot of
Dex - ferrets don't usually develop ulcers as a result of corticosteroid
injections, and dexamethasone generally won't do it.
 
The key here is that hindlimb weakness is a symptom not a disease.  In
itself, it doesn't mean the beginning of the end, the end of the end, or
anything else, and you can't give a prognosis for it.  You'd be wrong
every time.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM
[Posted in FML issue 3262]