I posted a few weeks ago about my ferret Linus starting to go downhill
from his insulinoma and adrenal disease. Since then I have bumped up
his pred dosage and started adding a little heavy whipping cream to
the turkey baby food he gets his meds with. He loves the cream, and it
gives him some extra calories which he desperately needs (he's just
skin and bones and pred belly!) but his stools have been even looser
lately than they were before. Otherwise, he is doing MUCH better than
he was right after I got back from vacation!

I have always heard of pumpkin as the universal cure for poopie
problems, but I don't know if the sugars in it are appropriate for an
insulinoma kid. I feed my ferrets a raw ground diet of chicken, turkey,
pork, duck and rabbit, and they are doing well on it. I think the no
carb approach is what has helped Linus last this long, and I'm
terrified to rock the boat. Right now, he seems to be doing a lot
better, but I feel like there just isn't a lot of room for error.

Another option is to add some slippery elm bark to his food to help
firm up the stools, but again, I don't know if it is appropriate for a
ferret with insulinoma. I will be adding some probiotics for sure, and
will cut back on the amount of cream he gets, but he won't take his
medicine without at least some.

If anyone has any suggestions for putting some weight on and firming up
the potty issues, I would be most grateful!

Amanda

[Posted in FML 6934]