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>The day after surgery his glucose was 355, and that night his urine
>continued to have high glucose evident. Today is day 3, and he seems to
>be feeling pretty "puny". Was just wondering if I am supposed to do anything
>to combat the high glucose at this point (insulin?) or just wait to see
>if it resolves itself in a few days? I am assuming he shouldn't have his
>pred, either
 
Yes, no pred - it'll just make it higher.  I would wait several more
days, and take a glucose level on day 5 and 7.  If either hit 500, then
we should start some insulin.  If it levels off to around 300 or so, I
think we can continue to monitor without insulin.
 
>Question #2:
>I have had two ferrets recently that have had normal Buns and high
>creatinine levels.  Bun 27, creat 1.8, and the 2nd ferret had a Bun of
>29, creat 1.9.  I thought it usually is the other way around.  What does
>it mean when the creat is elevated but not the Bun?  Is it early kidney
>disease, dehydration?
 
High creatinines are good indicators of renal damage, if lab error can be
ruled out (usually a second confirmatory test is required.)  I would like
to see a urine specific gravity as well.  The low BUNs suggest that the
body is compensating well at this point, but I do get concerned by
creatinines over 1 to 1.5, because in ferrets with end-stage renal
disease, about the highest that you will ever see is a 3, as compared to
other species which often go much higher than that.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM
[Posted in FML issue 3843]