>On Thursday evening Romana was pretty lethargic and didn't play as
>normal.  Yesterday morning she ate her chicken gravy but then vomited a
>little bit of it back up.  About half an hour later I heard
>whimpering/crying and I found her in the midst of a seizure.  Her entire
>body was convulsing, and she was making these pathetic little crying
>noises.  This lasted maybe a minute and a half.
>
>After the seizure yesterday she was like a wet dishrag: totally limp.
>She recovered briefly but then went totally flat again.  I picked her up
>and she didn't react at all...
>
>Our regular vet wasn't in, but his associate (who is pretty ferret
>knowledgeable in her own right) saw her.  By that time Romana was running
>around acting absolutely normal.  Her blood glucose was 83, which is
>low-normal, and certainly not indicative of insulinoma.
 
Dear X -
 
Remember that at least in early stages - insulin release from insulinomas
can be very periodic - and blood sugar may rebound fairly quickly.
 
83 is low, but is not what I consider in the insulinoma range, etc.
There are other causes of seizures, in ferrets - they are just very
rare - epilepsy, infectious diseases of the meninges and brain, even
brain tumors.  However, they can be the devil to properly diagnose, as
what goes on inside the cranium doesn't often show up on routine tests.
 
Single isolated seizures, while distressing to owners, are usually of
little consequence to the ferret.  The key is that they don't go on for
extended periods of time or extremely frequently, as they can result in
anoxia, as seizing animals breathe very erratically.
 
At this point, I would monitor very closely for signs of any other
neurologic impairment or other seizures - let's not rule out the
possibility of an insulinoma on the basis of a single isolated test -
it's one of those things that should remain in the back of your head for
future reference.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3623]