Hey All,
 
First a little background.  Noble is a sable mf boy of undetermined age.
He is a rescue.  Approx 2.5 months ago he was diagnosed with insulinoma.
Prednisolone has not been real successful in controling/stablizing his
blood sugar.  We scheduled surgery for Noble for last Tues.  On Monday the
vet asked me to take Noble off of his pred as he did not want any in his
system during surgery.  Noble had his breakfast Monday am w/o medications.
He was fine at that time.  4 hours later he was gurgling thru every breath
he took.  Noble went to the emergency vet where it was found his chest was
filling with fluid.  An injection of baytril was given, pred was given and
we waited for test results.  Some of the fluid had been drawn off.  Noble
showed remarkable improvement.  Test results came back negative for
infection.  Noble was then scheduled for an echocardiogram.
 
Here is what the report says from the echocardiagram said:
 
 Signifigant aortic insufficiency is noted in this patient.
 Echocardiographic findings are otherwise unremarkable.
 
 Mild aortic insufficiency is reportedly common in ferrets.  Noble has
 significant aortic insufficiency.  His aortic valves were subjectively
 hyperchoic, but valvular lesions were not visualized.  Acquired causes
 of aortic insufficiency include cardiomyopathy (unlilkely) and bacterial
 endocarditis.  (this is what dr.  Howard thinks happened, he says the
 damage is irreversable)
 
 Chronic aortic insufficiency will result in a volume overload state of
 the left ventricle, and may lead to left CHF.  Consider initiation of
 enalopril therapy in this patient (0.5mg/kg q 48 hors, gradualy increase
 to 0.5mg/kg q 24 hours to promote forward blood and minimize the AI
 regurgitant fraction.  Recommend discussing case findings wiht an exotics
 animal consultant.
 
 Howard also says the ultrasound guy came in shaking his head saying well,
 we found something abnormal but arent sure .......... Howard feels the
 same way as the bacterial explanation should have shown up in the blood
 work with elevated white cell counts but didnt.  He is going to get on
 VIN (vetrinary info network) to try to find some answers there.
 
Has anyone out there had anything similar happen?  What was the treatment,
prognosis.  What are we looking at long term/short term?  Altho the damage
is irreversable, is it controlable with drug therapy and is it possible
to increase quality of life with the insulinoma surgery.  Or is that too
risky?
 
Any one with any answers please respond.
 
Fer8hapy,
 
Karen (still praying that Noble might wardance some day)
[Posted in FML issue 3149]