From: Lynn McIntosh [faiml@uswest.net] Sent: Friday, July 09, 1999 9:07 PM To: FAIMLanon; FAIML Subject: FAIML #311; July 10, 1999 Ferret Adrenal/Insulinoma Mailing List (FAIML) #311; July 10, 1999 Hi there. I forgot to change the date on FAIML #310; it should have been dated July 7, 1999. Sorry! Lynn Mc. 1. Trekkie 2. Hair loss 3. insulinoma blood sugar testing 4. Post-op care 5. Lupron confusion TO POST: Write POST at the end of your subject heading (the more specific you can be in your subject heading, the better) and send to . URGENT POSTS: If you feel the message is urgent please mark it POST URGENT and I'll send it out to subscribers as soon as I can, then include the message in the next list. CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS: Please write POST ANONYMOUS after your subject heading if you don't want your address or last name published. SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE: Just use the one address for posts, subscription questions, requests, cancellations, comments, etc. The list is run by hand so just send me an e-mail. ADRENAL/INSULINOMA WEBSITE: FAIML ARCHIVES/PHOTOS: Past FAIMLs are being archived, with a search feature, on Michael Janke's adrenal/insulinoma web site: . Michael is also kindly posting pictures of FAIML subscribers and the ferrets at this site in the FAIML Album. Check out his site for more info. PAM GREENE's FERRET FAQs: I suggest people read (and reread) Pamela Greene's Disease FAQ's on Insulin and Adrenal diseases, as they offer a good background. I forward them to all new subscribers, and will gladly send them upon request. I also send the "Disease Package", a file that tells how to get all six of Pamela Greene's FAQs on ferret diseases. Pam also has excellent FAQ's about general ferret care as well, and a link to these may be found on the FERRET CENTRAL web site: . THE FERRET MAILING LIST (FML): The FML has 3,000+ ferret-loving subscribers and the topic is simply ferrets, ferrets, and more ferrets. Moderated by Mr. Bill Gruber, it's a good source of ferret entertainment and information. Visit FERRET CENTRAL on the web (see paragraph above) for more info on the FML. To subscribe to the FML, send email to its moderator, Bill Gruber, at and ask to be added. You can also try subscribing automatically by sending email to with the command SUBSCRIBE FERRET in the body of the email. 1. Subject: Trekkie From: Apollo174@aol.com Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 08:01:02 EDT Hi all, Dooks to all sick fuzzies! Last week, Trekkie did her weasel dance which I haven't seen in months. She must have been having a good day. Anyway, I started her on the proglycem last night. I just wanted to know what are the maximum doses of pred and proglycem for ferrets? She is getting a quarter of a tablet of prenisolone (sp?) and .5 ml of proglycem. Is she maxed out already? Also, how long does it take for these meds to be absorbed in their systems? She keeps lying down and taking so many speedbumps, I feel like the meds aren't kicking in. I know she is an advanced case of insulinoma but one tries their best. I hate when she lies down in the middle of exploring. It really pains me because it's not at all like her to do that. Any thoughts? --Marissa and Trekkie APollo174@aol.com 2. Subject: Hair loss From: EquineAmy@aol.com Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 20:17:07 EDT Okay, I have got another question and need some advice. Connor's hair loss (from his adrenal - he just started Lupron) is about the same. He losses a little from his back once in a while and is growing some in on his tail...wierd, I know....but Connor is a wierd one. Anyway, my question is that he has little dots on his back - almost looks like little red dots in some of his pores. Sort of like a rash, but not really - it is his pores I think. Anyway, does anyone know what this is. He has had them since he has started losing his hair, but has gotten more. The vet saw them in the beginign and didn't say anything, but was curious if anyone knows if it is some sort of dryness or something and if if bothers him. I do find that it looks like he licks it a lot - his hair around the area seems "licked" if you know what I mean. Anyway, is there anything that I should be doing for it - maybe aloe or something. Any info is always welcomed here. Thanks a lot. Amy and the best three ferrets she could ever ask for :-) 3. Subject: insulinoma blood sugar testing From: Jack Brondwin Date: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 22:54:52 -0700 I am noticing that a lot of owners of diabetic cats and dogs are beginning to test their pets for blood sugar at home using a glucometer. One of my clients has a cat that is so frantic and upset that it is virtually impossible to test her in the office. The owner learned how to collect and test her blood at home making it so much less stressful for all of us. This would be a wonderful way to detect ferrets who are about to go into a low blood sugar crisis. I am wondering if there are any owners of ferrets with insulinomas who are testing blood sugar levels at home. Please share your experiences with us. If you wish to know more about blood sugar testing the following website http://www.petdiabetes.org/techniques_index.htm has some information from owners who are doing it. 4. Subject: Post-op care From: "Silver Eagle" Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 03:44:13 -0400 To all who have questions re. post-op care! If it is any help to anyone, I will tell you about my experiences with post-op babies. I have had 2 ferrets recover from exploratory surgery. Moxy is my Adrenal Baby who had her left adrenal removed and it tested positive for cancer. Moxy had her surgery in Sept/98. Sandy had surgery for what turned out to be 2 grape sized hairballs in his tummy. His surgery was in Feb./99. In both cases I made up a " hospital cage". My regular cages are 3 level Midwests and I was afraid of them being unable to navigate the ramps and perhaps irritating stitches. I did not do anything for the stitches, except to watch closely to make sure they were not chewing at them. They were both good ferrets and left their stitches alone. I left them in their one story hospital cage until their stitches came out, For the first couple of days I let them out for short exercise periods alone, but supervised. After a few days, I let them out with their cage mates for short, very closely supervised play time. Another reason for the separate cage was to closely monitor food and water intake. In both cases I wanted to be sure that they were eating and drinking enough and going potty enough. I had lots of duck soup on hand and was ready to supplement if need be. Moxy was really good and ate a regular diet almost as soon as she woke up.I still supplemented her with duck soup a few times a day. What a little doll! She never lost an ounce! She kept her girlish figure of 2 pounds even. Sandy on the other hand, refused to eat and drink on his own for days. He had already lost 8 ounces before surgery. I gave him duck soup and water by medicine dropper. He really scared me. I thought he would never start eating on his own again.The very day that he got his stitches out he started eating on his own and refused the dropper feedings. He is back to his very masculine weight of 3 pounds and 4 ounces. Once their stitches were out, I allowed them back into their regular cage. I watched them for a few days to make sure they were navigating ramps OK. Both of them were on antibiotics as a prevention for infection. I kept a close eye on their incisions and watched for bleeding, drainage from the incision, redness, etc. They did not show any signs of infection, but if they had, I would have called the vet immediately. Moxy did have a reaction to the Clavamox. She began to vomit after 3 days. She was also very itchy. She was rubbing her face on every rough surface she could get her face onto. She used rugs, the broom, and especially the grates on my boot tray at the front door. I called the vet, who told me to take her off of the Clavamox. She said Moxy had had the benefit of it for 3 days. I stopped giving it to her and the vomiting stopped almost immediately and the itch stopped the next day.I still watched her incision for signs of infection, until the stitches came out. I sure hope this info is of some help to you. Good luck with your surgeries. Sally St. Germain and her 10 "Little Saints." Hi.....my name is Sally.....I am a ferret-a-holic!!!!! 5. Subject: Lupron confusion From: "Linda Iroff" Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 07:48:52 -0400 Amy There are several different time-release formulations of Lupron available, designed to be given (in humans) once a month, every 3 months or every 4 months. See http://www.lupron.com/ for details. Most vets have been using the 1-month version in 100 mcg (microgram) doses. While this works for some ferrets, Dr Weiss is recommending a 2 mg (milligram) dose of the 4-month time release version. This works out to 500 mcg/month, five times the lower dosage. When using the lower dose, there have been some reports of symptoms going away after just a few shots and not returning for extended periods of time. In other cases, shots must be given monthly to keep the symptoms at bay. On the other hand, Dr. Weiss has seen a single 2 mcg 4-month doses relieve symptoms for 6+ months and counting. There have not been any studies of the effect of long-term use of Lupron in ferrets, but Dr. Weiss, who has been using the highest dosages, hasn't seen any negative effects yet. There have been some concerns about side effects in humans, see http://www.voicenet.com/~nlvn/ for details. My 7 year old Belle has had 2 monthly 100mcg shots so far. After the first, her very swollen vulva started going down within a few days, but there has been no fur regrowth yet. We'll try 200mcg for the next shot, and if no improvement, go to Dr. Weiss' protocol next. Good luck to Conner! Linda Iroff Oberlin, Ohio To help in raisin' funds for Ferrets Unlimited/Raisin Retreat, go here http://www.igive.com/html/ssi.cfm?CID=3585&MID=30146 ---------------- End of FAIML #311 --------------------