Hello fmlr's,
 
Help, I am becoming very frustrated and discouraged!  My Tango is showing
signs of what I believe is insulinoma (he's only 2 years old).  The vets
here in my town are not very ferret knowledgeable.  I live in Bismarck,
North Dakota.  I took Tango in last week for blood work done....my vet told
me his level was at approx.  60 (i'm guessing he meant blood sugar glucose
reading).  Basically he told me he was hypoglycemic and to rub karo syrup
or honey on his gums when he gets real low and that would snap him out of
his trance-like states and then he sent me on my way.  That's it?  What
about checking for a pancreatic tumor or other tests, how about diagnosing
what we are dealing with?  I know that using karo syrup or honey is only
a temporary treatment.  Tango has never had a seizure but he does tire
easily after playing and lately seems to be very lethargic, he does his
flat-ferret thing a lot and does stare at times.  I did print out some
information on insulinoma from Ferret Central and gave it to my vet, but
it seems like he doesn't know what else to do from this point.  Quite an
expensive visit and Tango wasn't even diagnosed with anything.  I asked for
a copy of his reading (so I could take it to another vet and spare Tango
pain from more unnecessary blood work) and he said he didn't have a
printout, he just gave me a number he had written in his records from the
test.
 
I am going in on Monday to another vet in town to try and get some answers.
We only have 4 vets here in town that deal with ferrets and unfortunately I
don't think they are very fert knowledgeable when it comes to issues other
than vaccinations & blockages.  I'm going to try and check into other vets
in surrounding areas, but we have very small towns around here (I live in
the capital city) and the next closest larger city is 3 1/2 hours away.
 
I'm just frustrated, because i'm spending money on office visits, test,
etc.  and not getting any results.  Any helpful suggestions would be
greatly appreciated.  Until then, i'm off to another vet on Monday.
Thanks for listening!
 
Tracy J.
Tango, Chico, Roo, Pepe', Spunky & Leah
[Posted in FML issue 2943]