A few weeks ago I posted a note about the medication diazoxide for ferrets
with insulinoma who weren't responding to prednisone.  The drug limits
insulin production, so the ferret feels a bit better, although it doesn't
do anything for the cancer.
 
Lily, a tiny ferret (from a wonderful shelter in Oregon) had had adrenal
surgery early in the summer.  She'd started recovering, but then insulinoma
kicked in.  Prednisone didn't seem to help, and Lily kept going into shock.
The addition of diazoxide to her medications made a big difference, so that
she has gained weight and actually plays a bit now.  But we can't kid
ourselves--this ferret is going to die of her cancer, sooner rather than
later.  She is tiny, thin, and frail.  Surgery isn't an option.
 
We're feeding Lily chicken gravy every few hours, but yesterday I got home
late and my daughter had forgotten the after-school feeding.  I found Lily
lying on the floor of her cage having seizures.  She looked wretched.  She
was quite limp and her eyes were glazed.  except for the seizures, she
seemed to hardly move.  I rubbed corn syrup on her gums and tried to get
her to swallow the diazoxide.  After a while the seizures stopped and she
lay completely limp in my hands, barely breathing.  I held her for a few
hours, rubbing more corn syrup on her gums every so often.  She wasn't able
to lick or swallow, and her eyes looked dead.  I had to watch closely to
see any breathing--it was shallow and slow.  After a few hours, I felt that
there was nothing more to do, so I put her in the isolation cage in her
favorite blanket and put the cage in my room, and then went to sleep.
 
This morning I awoke feeling blue, because I really didn't want to see
the tiny body and have to bury her.  Except the tiny body wasn't dead.
In fact, Lily was up and looking around for breakfast.
 
These creatures are truly amazing.
[Posted in FML issue 2886]