Hello to all,
 
I am very worried about my 3 year old sable Lucy.  She has had insulinoma
since March 2000 but has done well on Pediapred every other day.  Around
the time that her cagemate, Toby, was heading in for adrenal surgery I
noticed that Lucy was starting to lose her hair in the same way Toby had.
(this was in mid June).  The hair loss progressed so I took her to the vet
in mid to late July.  She had become more aggressive as well, her vulva
was not enlarged, and she was and is eating and drinking well.
 
My vet did a free ultrasound, as they had just had theirs installed and
needed the experience.  It showed both adrenals enlarged; although my vet
said that he was not the most experienced and would send it to the
technician who trained them for verification.  We went ahead and did the
adrenal panel as well, expecting it to confirm the disease.  Well, the
panel has come back normal.  The vet at the University of Tenn said that
the insulinoma nor the Pred should have swayed the results; perhaps it was
"early adrenal" and we should take her off the Pred for several weeks and
rerun the test.  (They said that Toby was "early adrenal" with borderline
test results in May, his left adrenal was 3 times the normal size).  The
very competent vet that did the surgery in Richmond does not feel
comfortable doing exploratory, as my vet here suggested, because of the
normal adrenal panel.
 
Meanwhile, my vet is frustrated; and I am frustrated and in tears.  Lucy
is becoming more hyper, she is biting me and I know she is not doing it
because she wants to.  As far as I know, there is no vet here in the
Charlottesville area who can do the surgery; and the wonderful vet who did
Toby's in June does not want to do an exploratory on Lucy.  I am open to
any and all suggestions and advice.  Thanks.
[Posted in FML issue 3511]