Hello fellow ferret lovers!  I have a question that will hopefully help out
my vet and myself.  Recently my ferret Snowflake has been diagnosed with
insulinoma, for which he is on prednisone.  The prednisone is crushed and
mixed with a cherry syrup by my vet because "almost every ferret LOVES it"
like this.  Well, Mr. Personality doesn't, and I end up having to scruff
Snowflake to give it to him twice daily, as he will do ANYTHING to escape me
when he sees it coming.
 
So we are trying to find some other type of mixture for this, which will
allow Snowflake to get the proper dosage of prednisone, in a form that he
will accept more easily.  (such as vanilla, or peanut butter, or Ferretone,
etc.)  My vet says that its not as easy as it sounds because you have to be
able to ensure that the ferret gets the right amount of medicine.  So, if
you mix it, you have to be sure to get equal amounts of pred. in each dose.
 
Any help any of you can provide us on this issue will be greatly
appreciated.
 
On a similar note, any of you looking for a good vet in the North New
Jersey, Northeast Pa area might want to check out Dr. Sharon Zaccone in
Montague, NJ.  She is very knowledgable of ferrets, and has accepted as much
info as I can print off for her from the FML and FAQs.  And she has vowed to
subscribe to the FML as soon as she gets a modem for her computer.  I highly
recommend her.
 
Thank you for your help in our dilemma.
Brian Walker
 
[Moderator's note: You might consider trying PediaPred.  It's liquid, made
for children - so probably doesn't taste *that* bad, and in any event, you
wouldn't have to worry about crushing pills if you use it.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 1529]