John wrote:
>My experience is the same.  My Sammy never seemed to benefit from Timmy's
>Tonic when he had insulinoma.  It *may* have helped Cassie; she only ever
>had very mild and rare symptoms, and they *seemed* to be gone when both
>ferrets had Timmy's in their water.  But it's hard to say.  In any case,
>it may just be that it helps some ferrets and not others.
 
I reply:
*If* there is any form of sugar in there: sugar, honey, frucose, etc.
that will mask or reduce symptoms, because it will increase the blood
sugar.  That is what used to be done in the old days before it was
hypothesized by vets and endocrinologists that such an approach is
possibly actually harder on the pancreas long term and therefore can
possibly reduce life span.  Once upon a time we were told to give things
like honey a few times a day.  (Ah, the changes that happen through the
decades with further info...)
 
----
Trudi wrote:
>i tell you a story, ill make it quick: we got giardia in our house..vet
>tried all the meds and finaly said your going to have to live with
>it...(over 2000.00 later)..i said i dont think so...i went to "holistic
>animal care" here in tucson..got a bottle of giardia and parasite cleanser
 
I reply:
Just an important point which has been brought up by multiple
ferret-knowledgeable vets: it's NOT unusual to run into misread slides in
which there are NOTHING which really shouldn't be in the feces in the
first place.  When a recalcitrant case that is asymptomatic is encountered
get the slides double-checked by a pathologist because they may simply
have been misread by one of the vets, and there can wind up being treating
for nothing bad at all.  Yes, it happens with diagnoses of giaridia, or
coccidia, of "bacteria", etc.  If there's something there then it pays to
treat, but if it isn't responding then get it checked in case there may
be nothing at all when someone who has the expertise to do special tests
looks at it.
 
Bill wrote:
>... Dayna was certainly a controversial person but she had no shortage of
>supporters either, for the record.  BIG]
 
I mention:
My impression from having talked with her a number of times on e-mail and
phone: Dayna certainly cared deeply about some people and animals, but
when she got a thought into her head it could stick to her like glue.  She
knew from Bill and from Bob M. that I was/am in New Jersey.  She even
looked up my number here, and then would call and talk my ear off about
any old thing that she had on her mind.  Once I kept track and besides
"hello" and "goodbye" I said fewer than 5 words in a 45 minute
"discussion" of what her life was like at that time.  She just needed an
ear sometimes for everyday life.  Yet, even just a couple of days before
he died Bob mentioned that she still insisted that I was in California.
It didn't matter that she had looked up Steve's and my telephone number
in N.J., and it didn't matter that she knew from at least two people that
Steve and I live in NJ .  She had very real pain and certain marked
difficulties in real-world functioning of the sort that complicated her
life and people's impressions of her and feelings about her.  That's not
all that unusual a thing to happen; we all know folks who are in that
spot.
[Posted in FML issue 3672]