I hate writing posts like this one because I know someone is going to find
them painful, and sometimes the person is a friend; still, I HAVE to write
this because there have been some posts recently which give the false
impression that some treatable illnesses are not treatable.
 
In the first place there appear to be owners and some vets used by some
owners who are confusing adrenal tumors with insulinomae again.  AN OWNER'S
BEST FRIEND IS OFTEN THE MEDICAL FAQS!  Pam Greene can make these available
to you.  (The two tumors can exist together, of course, but there has been
confusion again.)
 
(Bill is it okay for me to put in Pam's address on this since it's an
established and very well appreciated service she provides?
[log in to unmask] )
 
Give the medical FAQs to your vet, too.  A good one will NOT be insulted.
Our's has even done an exotics specialization at the Animal Medical Center
in New York City (one of the world's premier veterinary hospitals, and HE
appreciated the FAQs since he figures that if he learns even just one little
thing from the references he reads it might be the thing which makes the big
difference needed.  Of course, Hanan Caine is an incredible vet and we are
lucky to live in Basking Ridge, N.J.  since he's right in town.  If your vet
is insulted that might well be an indication that you should look elsewhere.
 
In the second place even elderly ferrets can often get through surgeries as
long as the vet is experienced and the things which make the risk more
complicated can be dealt with, and a bit of luck is on your side.  ( This
does not mean that there are not risks but they can be reduced for most
ferrets.) I know of a 10 year old (yes, TEN Y.O.) ferret who was owned by a
vet which did not make it through surgery because of his cardiomyopathy but
there was enough chance that he'd make it that the risk was deemed
acceptable by two very ferret knowledgeable vets: the owner and the
operating vet.  (Oh, if memory serves that was an MF ferret, BTW.) We have
had 6, 7, and 8 year olds who have been operated on and have come through it
fine -- in fact we've never lost one to surgery yet in 14 or 15 years of
ownership, even one with advanced right adrenal based lymphoma in one case,
or cardiomyopathy, liver cysts, adrenal tumor, deformities, and insulinomae
ALL in another one (as well as some other problems).  Ferrets are tough but
too many vets don't know that still.
 
Third is that folks should realize that even those insulinoma patients which
are having grande mal seizures are treatable!  One of our elderly ferrets
(one bred by Wendy Winstead back when... what a regal little girl she
was...) had another eight months of happy life after her first grande mal
seizure even though she had both insulinomae and lympho and the vets at that
point were afraid to operate.  With prednisone and proglycem she had a very
good life after the first vet said to give up all hope.  (Guess who found a
new vet?  This was back when we had to drive two hours to get treatment from
an exotics vet -- later we drove an hour to one who wasn't but who wanted to
learn, who consulted with experts, and who asked questions -- but Steve took
that first Fritter ride at 85 miles an hour (It's the ONLY time I've EVER
seen him speed even though we once owned a race car.)) In some extreme cases
it is even possible to use phenobarbital elixir to control seizures to a
reasonable extent.  One thing which is important to realize is that the
ferret is not in pain from the seizures themselves though they are very
traumatic for us no matter how often one sees them.  TREAT!!!!!!
[Posted in FML issue 1984]