Hello, I posted the other day regarding my ferret, Fred, being "agitated"
and making continuos laps around the kitchen - like maybe he was going
stir crazy from the pain med - Torb - (is what I thought was the cause
for his pacing).  He took a drastic turn for the worst and is now in the
hospital fighting for his life.  I apologize if this post is longer than
it should be, I am trying to include all pertinent info.
 
First, please know that as I write this Fred IS hospitalized.  The vets
there are stumped as to what may be wrong, so I am turning to you all
for any help.
 
This gets a little complicated because I took him to a vet whom I highly
trust which is 4 hours one direction away from me.  As luck would have
it, that vet is on vacation for the next week!!  The local vet I usually
see for my ferrets who is not a ferret expert but is very ferret
knowledgeable and very willing to learn about ferrets is ALSO on vacation
this week.  Right now Fred is with the vets I take my cats to, and to
give them proper credit, they also see ferrets, but are not ferret
experts.
 
On Tuesday the vet who performed the surgery said he had removed half of
his pancreas that is was FULL of tumors!!  He said he was worried about
him during the surgery as his breathing was very shallow!!  FYI: Fred had
adrenal and insulinoma surgery a year ago today by the local vet, but has
been on Pred ever since.  His glucose level never maintained where it
should be.  He recently started getting worse and I decided after adding
Diazoxide with no success to opt for a 2nd surgery.  He did not adapt
well to the 1st surgery - he got very depressed and his glucose levels
kept dropping and he was weak for some time after the surgery.  Because
of that I was afraid to have another surgery done on him.  But after
consideration, I decided this would be his only chance for some quality
life as he was deteriorating in recent months.
 
We picked him up Wed PM and he slept most of the night (surgery was on
Tuesday morning).  Thursday night is when he was pacing like mad.  Friday
he took his meds and I gave him his turkey baby food (which I have given
him turkey and chicken baby food daily as a supplement to his regular
kibble).  When I got done with my shower,  I looked in and Fred was
laying with his head in the food bowel as is if he passed out.  He was
VERY WEAK!  He has been very weak since I brought him home.  The vet said
his glucose was still low (I think it was 80) the day after his surgery.
So when I got him out from his food bowl, I tried to give him some
Nutrical (which he loves).  He did not take any.  The vet sent pancake
syrup home with me and I gave him some of that via a syringe.  Nothing!
Still unresponsive.  I thought maybe if I put a raisin in front of him he
would perk up.  No go!  I rushed him to the vet (where he is at now) and
he was pretty much nonresponsive the whole time.  When we got there, his
heart started beating faster and he was kind of panting.  They gave him
dextrose via a syringe (I think that is what they gave him) and it perked
him up some if you want to call it that.
 
They have him on a continual dextrose dip and are monitoring his glucose
which keeps fluctuating alot.  One time it was 120 and the next it was
80 and so on.  I went to visit him this morning and he looked like he
was not there.  He had a very glazed over look.  He has NO strength
whatsoever!!  He started to pee on me and I put him in the litter and he
collapsed and laid there motionless not even trying to move.  The vet
today said it is almost like he is blind.  That he put his head down in
the water bowl and then when he got wet, he realized it was his water and
moved his head.
 
I asked if she thought he has a chance of surviving and she said yes.
She explained it could be that his body is reacting to the removal of a
large part of the pancreas and that his insides are "angry".  Oh, yeah,
the vet who performed the surgery said that his liver was plastered to
his pancreas and he had to maneuver it around to examine the pancreas
from the other side.
 
Has anyone ever experienced this with your fuzzy?  Are there any vets
reading this who have any ideas or suggestions.
 
I might have missed some info as my mind is in a complete fog right now
and I can't stop crying.  Fred is my baby and I can't bear the thought of
him leaving me.  I adopted him from a shelter in June 2002 and they
estimated his age to be 3 or 4 , so he is about 6 or 7.
 
Could he have had a stroke?  Is it possible the remaining pancreas is
really that bad it won't compensate?
 
And can Diazoxide still be given to him after the insulinoma surgery??  I
asked the vet where he is at now and they aren't sure about the
Diazoxide.
 
Any help or suggestions are much welcomed.  If you want to email me
directly, my email is [log in to unmask]
 
Regards
Melanie
[Posted in FML issue 4892]