>From:    Deborah P <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Paco's problem
>About a week and a half ago I let him and his buddies out for a run and
>after he had been out a half hour or so I noticed him digging at his mouth.
>When I picked him up his saliva was kind of foamy and there was quite a bit
>of it.  He would gag a little bit and dig at his mouth and he seemed to be
>drooling a lot.
>
>This morning he acts fine, but I have an appointment with the vet anyway
>on Wednesday.  I'm wondering if insulinoma starts out this way, since he
>has had all his shots and he is about the age when stuff like that starts
>showing up.  Also, is there something I can do for him if it happens again
>between now and Wednesday?
 
This definitely sounds like a hypoglycemic episode, mostly likely caused
by Insulinoma.  A blood glucose reading at the vets will verify that.  You
will want to plan on a 3 to 3.5 hour fast (no more) for him before going to
the vet to get an accurate reading.
 
Ferrets with Insulinoma tend to sleep a lot and not eat as often they
should.  If they go a long time without food, it can trigger one of these
episodes.  So to help them avoid that, sometimes you have to feed them
yourself.  High protein meals are essential.  Go to the grocery store and
get some Gerber's 2nd stage chicken baby food, warm it to body temperature
and feed him off your finger to start.  He may initially refuse it, but
once they get a few tastes of it, they usually learn to love it... so much
so that you may find he eventually will eat nothing else, so try not to let
him get into that routine.
 
It'd probably be a good idea to feed him with this about 3.5 hours before
going to the vet for the blood glucose reading.  Kinda hard to get them to
eat on their own exactly 3.5 hours beforehand.
 
As for the age at which insulinoma occurs... we've seen them in the
shelter with Insulinoma at just over a year old.  So they're almost
never too young.
 
For the ferrets,
Mike
 
* Michael F. Janke, [log in to unmask]
* Secretary, South Florida Ferret Club & Rescue
* A 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation
*
* Shelter web site:  http://www.miamiferret.org
* Adrenal/Insulinoma web site: http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc
[Posted in FML issue 2805]