I'm no where near being a vet, but I do have some experience with insulinoma & dex. I was given dex to use only in case of a crash. It is my understanding that this steriod is strong and fast, but very short acting. So probably not the best thing for maintainace. After a bad episode last week, my Yogi was also given something more long-term, called vetalog. I don't know the chemical name. This stuff was like a miracle--she ate without fighting for about four days running. I was trying to talk my vet into using that for maintainace. Their objections were that there could be side effects. The main example? wasting! Well, I'd say not eating will have that side effect much faster. They had just agreed to try it (no more than 2x week) when Yogi went into a foaming seizure that we couldn't pull her out of and died. It wasn't the vetalog, which had worn off, but her own body that did her in. Still, if I ever have a ferret that badly off again, I'll go for the vetalog much sooner. It really was a wonder. --Clover and the rezweezils: Buddy, Cookie, Yogi, Butter, Buster (aka Fatboy), Lew, and Marissa "Always selling quality bedding and other goodies to help the ferrets!" http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZwclovergalQQhtZ-1 [Posted in FML issue 5229]