Aah, just when you think the storm has passed...
 
I woke up Saturday morning, fully prepared to go to the pet expo at the
Timonium Fairgrounds in Maryland.  Got dressed, then went into the ferret
room to get Kyle out for his morning insulinoma medicines.  Something, I
really don't remember what, made me turn my attention to Noel, who was
curled up in a sleep sack in the cage.
 
When I pulled her out, I was horrified.  She had her head pulled back to
the right really far (not a normal ferret posture).  I put her down on
the floor.  Her head was still pulled back and she was stumbling onto her
left shoulder.  I thought "My, God, she's having some kind of neurological
episode." After a few minutes, it was still happening, so I began calling
vets to find someone ferret-knowledgable.  I had to go through the phone
book (ugh) as our usual vet wasn't on, that vet's office had no "exotic"
vets on duty, and the vet where I took Slinky to be put down did not have
any ferret vets on.
 
After 20 panic-y minutes, I found someone that would take us as soon as
we could get there.  At this point, Noel was thrashing her way around the
ferret room, trying to walk and continually collapsing onto her left side.
 
Now, to make a very long story short, I spent 4 hours in vet's offices.
The first vet was very good with her, gave me some options: toxin
(unlikely), primary neurological thing like a brain lesion, or insulinoma.
They drew blood and sent me to the emergency animal hospital to have it
analyzed right away.  There wasn't enough, so they had to try to get more,
Noel wasn't cooperating, etc., etc.
 
So finally, kidney & liver panels came back normal.  The first blood
glucose came back 47 (pretty low) then the second one came back in the
low normal range.  So the doc's conclusion was insulinoma.
 
Insulinoma?!?!  It had never even crossed my mind.  Gizmo had it for 3-1/2
years and never showed symptoms like hers until the day before he died.
Kyle hasn't shown symptoms like that in the year since he was diagnosed.
Plus Noel has been perfectly normal up until Saturday morning...running,
playing, nipping.  I don't get it.
 
The doc says if its turns out not to be insulinoma, the second most likely
option is a brain lesion.  Oh, wonderful!  :-(
 
So, Noel is on prednisone (the same dose Kyle is on) for 48 hours to see
if her symptoms clear up.  They have for the most part.  She's a little
shaky when she first wakes up but then seems to work it out.  She's in her
own cage now, and seems to be eating & drinking normally.
 
Anybody have any thoughts on this? It just doesn't
"feel" like insulinoma to me.
 
=====
Aileen & the Herd
Welcome to our newest addition: Camille, the beagle!
The Ferrets: Kyle, Noel, & Toby
The Dogs: Rootie the beagle & Tank the GSD/basset
Still missing Sandy, Gizmo, & Slinky. We love you.
 
Check out the Herd's website at: http://www.geocities.com/anippy
[Posted in FML issue 3683]