Please note: This update is NOT to tell everyone to feed the Gravy to their
ferrets.  NO diet or supplement - of whatever kind - is a substitute for
good medical care, including surgery and/or medications where appropriate.
But a good diet, whether kibbled or homemade, can support the other care
you provide, while a poor diet can undermine it.
 
Recap: Gaoth (pron.  "gwee") is a 5 year old non-MF sprite.  Her left
adrenal was removed in 1996; her right in 1998.  In October 1998, Gaoth
started showing classic insulinoma symptoms.  Because she'd had a difficult
time recovering from the second adrenalectomy a few months before, & she'd
never really been strong or robust, Dr. Klein and I decided to not put her
through a third surgery.  By December, we'd had to increase her pred dose
to 1.0 ml/BID, and she'd dropped from 1.5 lbs to 0.98 lbs.  She was
sleeping constantly, felt "fragile" when I picked her up, and I was
resigned to losing her soon.
 
Right before Christmas 1998, Bob Church posted his idea for chicken gravy
made from whole pureed chicken, bones and all.  I figured it wouldn't hurt
to try, since Gaoth loved Duck Soup (it was what she was living on by that
time) and made up a batch on January 2, 1999.  I started giving her the
Gravy daily in addition to her regular kibble.  After a couple weeks Dr.
Klein and I were both surprised - her glucose had jumped almost 20 points,
and her weight was increasing!  After 2 months on the Gravy, we were able
to decrease her pred gradually to only 0.1 ml/BID, with her glucose stable
in the low end of normal.
 
Late summer we had to increase her pred to 0.2 ml/BID, but she was
otherwise doing well.  December, she had a bad "episode" and we had to
increase her pred again, to 0.4 ml/BID.  Her weight right now is just under
2 lbs, she still attacks my toes and climbs up the inside of my pants legs,
still grabs the boys (who outweigh her more than 2-1) by the ears to make
them be "bed-warmers" for her....
 
We don't know how much longer she has, but every day since last New Year's
has been a precious gift.  I know that she still has insulinoma... and that
it will win eventually.  The Gravy is NOT a cure.  But, it has helped her
to regulate her own metabolism better, so that she can do well with less
medication than she would have needed otherwise.  Nothing special in the
Gravy - it's just an easily digested, nutritionally balanced diet without a
lot of additives, and almost no grain/fiber.  But as my Dad-in-Law, who's a
Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Nutrition and Toxicology says, a diet
appropriate to its' metabolism/age/overall health plays a very important
role in how an organism is able to deal with fluctuations and "glitches"
in its' metabolism.
 
After all, how many of us *haven't* seen - or heard of - an improvement in
the health and general condition of a ferret that was weaned off of a cheap
cat food onto a better, higher-protein kibble?
 
But Gaoth is still with me, and she's still very much "Gaoth" - and I have
another reason to celebrate the New Year.
 
May the best of last year be the worst of this next.  My prayers and
thoughts are with those who are hurting right now.
 
Carla Smith  <><
WhyNot? Ferrets
http://www.whynotferrets.com
ICQ:  29478475
member, Rio Grande Domestic Ferret Club, El Paso, TX
"Every pet deserves to be loved, and to have someone cry over them when
 they're gone."
[Posted in FML issue 2917]