From: Lynn McIntosh [faiml@uswest.net] Sent: Saturday, August 14, 1999 6:00 PM To: FAIMLanon; FAIML Subject: FAIML #323; August 14, 1999 Ferret Adrenal/Insulinoma Mailing List (FAIML) #323; August 14, 1999 1. Treatment protocol for adrenal disease after surgery 2. Tennessee 3. unsuccessful surgery 4. Congrats and questions.. 5. New to list 6. Moxy and Lupron 7. Moxy"s appointment 8. Liquid Meds 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: Treatment protocol for adrenal disease after surgery From: Lynne Wooldridge Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 22:28:22 -0500 What is Florinef? Dustie had adrenal surgery last July and he took a course of meds for helicobacter infection and pred. He started lupron injections within a few months--maybe immediately--I cannot recall for sure. He has been on pred since for insulinoma and on baytril for chronic bladder infection. Should he be taking Florinef? Any info will be appreciated. I have had his blood glucose level checked and its always ok. I know that he does not feel well though and that is very worrisome. He must be experiencing some problems from the adrenal disease. Lynne 2. Subject: Tennessee From: Brandi Graham Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 06:31:23 -0700 (PDT) Hi All. Hope every one and their ferrets are doing well. We are moving to Tenn. this month. We will be right outside of Knoxville. I was wondering If any one had been to the University Vets. Do you know how they work. Any specific Dr. to ask for? any input or personal experince(good or bad) would be wonderful. How are they with routine stuff? (bad cuts, shots, yadda yadda ya) Thanks Brandi(human) and Pookie, Bandit, Ruby, Loki, Sugar, and Tigger 3. Subject: unsuccessful surgery From: "Christine Rozycki" Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 12:59:54 -0400 I wanted to thank everyone for the very supportive advice give to me on behalf of my baby, Norton, over the past few weeks. My little sweetheart past away early this morning after having adrenal surgery yesterday. I took him to the Northwoods Animal Hospital yesterday morning to have his left adrenal gland removed by Dr. Hudson. Norton got through the surgery fine, however Dr. Hudson informed me afterwards that it was his right adrenal gland, not his left, and he also found a tumor in his pancreas which he removed as well. He seemed fine when we left, and I gave him his medicine and did my best to force feed him, although he wouldn't have it. He seemed to be resting fine at first, I woke up a few times during the night to check on him and although he wasn't sleeping he didn't seem to be so bad. I had him sleep right beside me in his cage so I could monitor him. Around 5:45 this morning he woke me up whining. He looked horrible, so I called the emergency vet line, and rushed him to the doctors. He was suffering horribly, and as soon as he hit the table he was gone, and they couldn't bring him back. I've been crying since 6:00 am, and I was hoping that writing this might do me some good. No luck so far. I took my little sweetheart to be cremated a few hours ago. I will NEVER forgive myself for doing this to him. His last hours on earth we full of suffering because of a choice I made. There are so many things I've gone over in my head - things I should and shouldn't have done. If I wouldn't have decided on the surgery he would still be here with me and his brothers. I should have at least had the surgery closer to home, so he wouldn't have had to travel so far afterwards. I guess I'll never know what the right decision wouId have been. I miss him terribly, and my heart is broken. I just wish he would have died peacefully in his sleep instead of going through such horrible suffering and pain. Good-bye sweet Nortie, you are forever in my heart. Thank you all for your advice and support. Christine, Ralph and Piedmont 4. Subject: Congrats and questions.. From: "meagan quinn" Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 11:12:34 EDT Hello everyone! I want to say Congrats to Dr. Karen. I've been eagerly awaiting your book since i heard that you were writing it AND that you weren't "just any ol' vet". You have helped me so many times through this list and supporting you and your book isn't even close to enough thanks! congrats! congrats! congrats! ~~ secondly, can anyone that has a ferret with adrenal disease and hair missing behind the ears email me. Or if anyone has a good pic of a ferret with hair missing behind the ears. I am holding out on fezzik--but the missing hair behind the ears has me guessing. I know that behind the ears/toes is a common but less noticed spot to lose hair in adrenal disease. I just know if fezzik looks like this b/c it is his spring coat (very weird this year--A LOT of undercoat, not at many guard hairs), his toes and behind the ears MIGHT be missing--but since the rest of his coat is weird, i just can't tell. The second I see any comfirmation we are heading to Dr Weiss ASAP for surgery--i just need confirmation to drive 6 hours to open him up and find nothing. You know? Also: i went ot Dr. doolen with keera. He says she appears healthy--spleen feels fine, nothing palpatable. But her lymphs are slightly enlarged in her next. B/c she is a larger ferret, he doesn't know if this is b/c of fat or lymphoma. BUT she is on pediapred 0.5ml/day adn the pred. kills stuff that might make a biopsy false-neg--anyone have any ideas on this? Will tumors show up on an xray? Nico's did--but someone siad they won't. What will the xray show me? oh goodness, this is much longer than i thought. i always have too many questions for my own good! Thank you everyone who can respond to me. I greatly appreciate it! Meagan Q with keera / fezzik / haggis. ps: on a side note--my mom had to get a few special shots they needed all this permission for and special screenings and stuff. So we kept hearing about the "special" shots she had to get--i found out last week that they were LUPRON shots! pretty nifty 'eh? 5. Subject: New to list From: Tracy C Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 05:36:16 -0700 (PDT) Hi, everyone. My name is Tracy, and I'm new to the list. I wanted to introduce myself, and my fuzzies. I have 4 right now, all adoptees and rescuees. I have two big healthy boys, one little girl rescued with a broken femur, and one Dook E. Ferret, who is not doing so great. When I adopted Dook back in May, he was a happy dookin guy for about 3 or 4 days. Then he stopped taking water and food. I had to make him drink water with an eyedropper, and I force fed him for 2 months. He apparantly was fed only junk food by his previous owner, and he's probably about 3 or 4 years old. I recently went to a ferret show, and I was genuinly suprised when people said how sick Dook E. looked. He is looking soooo much better to me. He even started eating a little bit of kibble on his own. He's a VERY VERY picky fuzzy. He'll only eat TF, and only directly from the bag, he has to stick his head in, and pull out one kibble at a time. He's still very under weight, only 1.5 pounds. He's getting Vite, TF, Ensure Plus, Nutrical, Ferretone mix, and the occasional french fry or potato chip. Dook has some heavy problems. The vet found that his right kidney is 3x the size of his left. Chances are it's adrenal or a urinary backup. There's something wrong with his spleen, too. He is slighlty anemic. I need to build him up for surgery. This is driving me crazy with worry. I've tried whipping cream, heavy cream, all types of food concotions, duck soup, all without success, and now Im back to syringe feeding the baby. I really think Dook E. doesn't like me, and I can't blame him. I'm always shooting nasty tasting stuff down his throat, and he has to be scruffed to do it. He takes almost nothing voluntarily. I heard that there may be some herbs that could help. If anyone knows of the type and how to make a mixture, please e-mail me and let me know. I have about a week before he goes back to the vet for another blood test and weigh-in. I'm worried that he woln't be able to have the surgery he needs because I can't get him to put on weight. I really luv my fuzzies, all of them, and Dook E. is my special buddy that follows me everywhere. Sleeps in my room, goes to the stores with me, and is a substitute 'spokes ferret' at the pet stores, because he's so good. I have to go, hate crying at work. Thanks Tracy and the Fuzzy Bunch Mugsy022@yahoo.com 6. Subject: Moxy and Lupron From: "Silver Eagle" Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 03:02:46 -0400 Hi ferret people! I'm very exited tonight. Tomorrow we are taking Moxy to Guelph to see Dr. Mike Taylor. I took the information about Lupron that was written by Dr. Weiss, to my vet and she actually read it. Something that my old vet would never do, but that's another story and we won't go there! Anyway our new vet called down to Guelph to talk to Dr. Taylor. We got the number from Wendi and Stinki. Thanks Wendi ). To make a long story short we are going to Guelph tomorrow. I'm hoping that we can become part of a study on adrenal disease and get Lupron shots for our Moxy girl. Moxy had her left adrenal gland removed in Sept. 98 and is showing signs of problems with the right. Her tail is bald again and she has a swollen vulva. So far she is not showing any signs of feeling ill. She still eats well and is fairly active for her age. She is 7.5 years old and we feel not a very good candidate for surgery. Guelph is a 2 hour drive from where we live. I've already told them at work that I may be late coming in. I work from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. In my excitement, I'm sure I will have trouble sleeping tonight. I didn't expect this to happen so quickly. I only spoke to my vet about this on Thursday. Please keep my Moxy in your thoughts and prayers. She is the very first baby I got and even though I love all of my babies, she has a special place in my heart. I haven't told Moxy about the appointment yet. I don't want to worry her. However I'm certain that as soon as she gets into the car, she will know without me telling her! (really big grin ) Sally St. Germain and her 10 "Little Saints." Hi.....my name is Sally.....I am a ferret-a-holic!!!!! 7. Subject: Moxy"s appointment From: "Silver Eagle" Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 16:40:31 -0400 I received a call from my vet's office this morning. We had an appointment with the wrong Mike Taylor. Apparently there are 2 Mike Taylor's at the University of Guelph. Anyway the vet's office noticed the mistake before we left for Guelph, and cancelled our appointment and made us an appointment for the right Mike Taylor. The appointment is for August 26. Sooo we'll try again! I was so disappointed I could have cried. However we will head down that way on the 26th, and we'll let everyone know how we Made out. Who knew there were 2 Dr. Taylors? Apparently they are BOTH ferret knowledgeable, but only one deals with the adrenal disease in depth. It's a good thing that I hadn't told Moxy about the vet's visit yet! I would have upset her for nothing!. Would the real Mike Taylor please stand up . LOL Please remember us on the 26th. You guys are the greatest for your undying support and we LOVE YOU ALL! Sally St. Germain and her !0 "Little Saints." Hi.....my name is Sally.....I am a ferret-a-holic!!!!! 8. Subject: Liquid Meds From: KTrythall@aol.com Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999 15:47:08 EDT << I just was wondering if anyone has had any luck with any gimmicks syringing >liquid meds to their ferrets. >> A couple of mine do well with the following: Put the tip of the syringe in the side of the mouth in between the clenched teeth. Squirt a tiny bit of liquid in which gets them to open and start swallowing or licking the stuff down. Gradually keep squirting the rest in until it is all in. This only works for amoxi or cefa drops on my ferrets. The other more foul tasting meds (like Pepto) still take a two person ferret wrestling approach. Just a thought. Kelly --------------------- End of FAIML #323 ---------------------