>What I do when I have an insulinoma ferret that develops ulcers:
>I cut down on the pred a little... and ADD some of those nasty sugary
>treats to help keep blood glucose levels up.  A little Karo in the
>soup can help a lot.
 
Hi.  FYI: This is actually really not a good thing to do (actually, can
be VERY BAD)-sugary treats for a ferret with insulinoma dramatically
spike the blood sugar and allow it to come crashing down quickly a short
time later, versus the slower-acting, more controlled method facilitated
by meds like pred.
 
Please check with your vet for an alternative to this method; in the long
run, these more extreme increases and crashes in the blood sugar and
insulin levels can reduce the effectiveness of medical therapy.  You
should not be using Nutrical, honey, Karo syrup or any sugary treats to
try and regulate or control your ferret's blood glucose except in a
hypoglycemic crisis.  (Also, be sure if you use a chicken gravy or ferret
soup recipe that you leave out any Nutrical or honey with insulinomics!)
 
Ferrets are prone to ulcers and IBD, and it may or may not have anything
to do with pred use.  A better method for treating ulcers, IBD, etc would
be to add pepcid (aka famotidine) to your medical regimen and/or Carafate
(aka sucralfate) if there were signs of an ulcer.
 
Dooks,
April AC, veterinary technician and ferret owner
[Posted in FML issue 5093]