I have found:

1. a lot of people have NO idea how concentration affects dose level
and may be giving more concentrated meds themselves For example, a
Prednisolone with 5 mg/ml concentration has 5 times as much med in each
volume (ml or cc) measurement as one that has 1 mg/ml concentration.

2. a lot of people don't know that ferrets don't have the same problems
with Pred as humans do. There are some great past posts from Dr. Bruce
Williams on this. (Some ferrets are better off with other steroids,
though, and cautions should be taken if there is any ulceration and
preferably before such as giving with food.)

3. a lot of people don't know that the ferret's weight really, really
matters, too

4. a lot of people don't know that what matters is the mg (weight) of
the med given; that is the number to get down to and then look at in
relation to the ferret's weight

BTW, a bigger bang from a smaller dose can often be gotten by using
Prednisolone rather than Prednisone. This is because the liver turns
Prednisone into Prednisolone before the body can use the med so if the
liver is at all compromised then a good deal more Prednisone is needed
to get the same effect as a lower dose of Prednisolone.

When the ferret is between a rock and a hard place and all other things
have been tried the upper limit is often ignored for Pred and then it
is given on a "as the ferret will tolerate" level, though it may first
be split into 3 doses per day (every 8 hours) to see if that works
better since Pred's time of optimal action is about 9 hours, but here
are the levels USUALLY used from two vet texts:

_Essentials of Ferrets, 2nd Ed_ by Dr. Karen Purcell, page 33:
0.10-2.5 mg/kg q 12-24h PO

_Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents, 2nd Ed_ by Doctors Katherine
Quesenberry and James Carpenter, page 444:
0.5-2.0 mg/kg PO q 12-24h


Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 5647]