Author wrote:
>Brought my girl in for a BG and blood work up for lethargy/teeth
>grinding/face pawing.  A non-fasting BG had her at 50.  Vet prescribed
>.4ml pediapred every 12 hrs (liquid).  Other vet felt EE was IBD (too
>old for biopsy - my girl is almost 9) This Vet feels IBD is something
>vets are using way too often as a diagnosis when in reality all ferret
>intestines are inflamed????  He is finding underlying cause for upset
>stomach in majority of ferrets is insulinoma.  He feels the pred will
>help both in my girl.  Question is, he gave me a BIG bottle of pred.
>No follow up appt requested of my girl.  Should I indefinetly keep her
>on .4ml every 12 or hope to ween her down a bit?
 
http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922
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I guess I agree with some parts of this vet's diagnosis, but not with
other parts.
 
When you look at ferrets in her age group - yes, you will see that
almost all of their GI tracts have some level of inflammation.  The key
is whether there is clinical disease, in terms of chronic loose stools,
weight loss, etc.
 
I am not sure where EE fits in here, but it certainly is a form of IBD,
and actually the most severe.
 
Regarding the blanket prescription of prednisone for insulinoma - that
is a difficult call.  Insulinoma is most often a surgical treatment (at
least at first diagnosis), but at 9, you do have to think long and hard
about that surgery.
 
Personally, I think that IBD is a very real and very common disease,
but I do believe that a confirmatory biopsy should always be taken before
you start an animal on a lifetime of prednisone.  Also, there are some
dietary modifications that will help to lessen the daily dose of
prednisone required to restore normal function to the gut.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 4202]