I just went on a trip for 5 days with my family and boarded my
Insulinomic ferret at our veterinary office to make sure that he would
get his medication. I gave them specific instructions on what dosage he
should be getting. When I came to pick him up, he could barely move.
They told me that they had decreased his medication because I was
giving him too much. He went from .5 mg twice a day to .3 mg twice a
day. This is a decrease of 40%! When I picked him up they had told me
that he had also had gone into insulin shock and they have had to give
him sugar (I have previously never had to do this). I did not get a
call and they did not call the pharmacy about this before they made
the adjustment. I called the Dr. and I expressed how I was upset, and
he said it was a misunderstanding and that it doesn't matter if they
medication is decreased gradually or not. I was pretty sure that a
decrease in the prednisolone needed to be done gradually, is this not
correct? His Dr. expressed no remorse and did not feel at all that he
had any reason to apologize. I'm hoping that he will start to do better
again after I give him the right dosage, he can't even stand at this
point and I'm so angry that because of their incompitance my ferret
suffered and how arrogant they were about the whole situation. So my
questions for you are:

1- I told the Dr. that the Prednisolone if decreased needs to be done
gradually. He very much disagreed with me. Am I correct in this? Is
there a reputable website that I can e-mail to him that states this?

2- Would you file a complaint with the minnesota veterinary board of
medicine on this arrogant incompetant Dr?

Thank-you all so much, I'm just so upset because he is so sick and I
feel like it was error that caused such a quick decline. Thank-you

Shanna

[Posted in FML 5661]