From: Lynn McIntosh [faiml@uswest.net] Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 1999 2:22 AM To: FAIMLanon; FAIML Cc: faiml Subject: FAIML #351; Nov. 9, 1999 Ferret Adrenal/Insulinoma Mailing List (FAIML) #351; Nov. 9, 1999 1. Need help, please 2. Weasel introduction 3. Subject: Update on Ben's high sugar 4. Question 5. Great News!! :) 6. bilateral adrenalectomy meds. The FERRET ADRENAL/INSULINOMA MAILING LIST (FAIML) is a group that's come together to share support and information about adrenal and insulinoma diseases. FAIML comes out in digest format three to six times per week, depending on the number of posts sent, and their surgency. FAIML information is the opinion, only, of subscribers, mostly ferret caretakers. It is not medical advice, comes with no guarantee of accuracy, and is not meant to replace the examination and medical oversight of a qualified veterinarian. If your ferret is sick or exhibiting signs of illness take your fur kid to the most ferret- experienced vet you can find! 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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 great 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. Need help, please From: EquineAmy@aol.com Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 16:52:02 EST Hi everyone. Well, we got winnie's blood work back today. Luckily it seems as if the staring is nothing cause her glucose and insulin levels are good. but we have a different problem. According to some reading (I forgot what it is called), she is dehydrated and.....her WBC is 50,000. The vet said normal is 10 ,000. She said it is probably just an indication of some kind of infection. Other than just being a little quieter than normal and being the only of 4 ferrets shedding, she seems normal. No fever and all vitals are good. The vet also told me to watch for a swollen vulva - which she hasn't had up to this point. She put her on 1/2ml of Amoxi drops for a week and then will retest her blood then. My first question is: -IS she telling me to check the vulva for fear that this coudl be the begining of adrenal? -what type of infection or whatever would cause dehydration and a very high WBC? -the vet knows about my other ferrets - and wasn't concerned about them having it to, but should I be? Please please please - anything that you can tell me will help - vets, owners, anyone anyone.....I just need to know more....and I think the vet wished she knew more too - she as very concerned about the WBC - shocked actually - especially cauise there are no other signs of anything - if anyone knows also - can this be an indication of adrenal? I am worred cause hse is shedding a lot - althought not in clumps like my boy who has adrenal was shedding - just if you pull at her hair, 4 of 5 pieces will fall out - but she isn't balding or really thinning or anything. the help will be GREATLY appreciated. Amy 2. Weasel introduction From: "Holly Domanick" Date sent: Tue, 09 Nov 1999 18:31:17 EST Hello everyone, I would like to tell you about my sweet angel weasel. She is a MF ferret just over 3 yrs. old. Her weight varies from 1lb 5oz to 1lb 7oz. She has gained 2oz. and kept it on since I started her on Bob C's chicken gravy recipe a few weeks ago. She had her left adrenal removed in June 1998. It was cancerous. She recovered quickly from that. She didn't lose any fur that time just got very itchy and her fur got rough. Her vulva was verry swollen. It never returned to normal size. It did shrink considerably. Her vulva has been swelling and getting filled with puss from time to time. As soon as I use neosporin for a few days it seems to go back to a smaller size. The last 2 days it doesn't seem to be going back down. Its not near the size now as last year though. She has also been losing hair. It is not at certain points; but an overall thining. Today she seems to have some regrowth in spots. She also has blackheads on her tail. We were at the vet 2 weeks ago. He ran routine blood tests. They all came out ok. She wasn't swollen much that day. He did her first surgery so he is aware of her history. He doesn't want to rush into surgery. He wants to wait and see if the symptoms progress. He is looking into using lupron at his practice now. I don't want to put her through unnecessary surgery. I also don't want to wait too long. She appears to be very healthy. She is very active and a good eater. Thank you all for listening any advice would be greatly appreciated. One nice lady called and said it could be a problem with feelng threatened by the other 2 getting older and bigger than her. My other 2 are 2 1/2 yrs old. Weasel is still the boss and the smallest of the three. I sure hope that is her problem; but with her past history I don't know. Thanks Eileen 3. Subject: Update on Ben's high sugar From: "Karen O'Keefe" Date sent: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 13:55:06 -0000 Hi everyone, I just wanted to post an update on my Ben's high sugar, I posted about a month ago saying that Ben who was being treated for Insulinoma since February this year had a month ago suddenly developed very high blood sugar, well the vet weaned him off his preds and well the sugar in his urine has stayed very high, I have to take him back to the vets on Friday and she will do another blood glucose test and then decide whether to put him on Insulin, I have been testing his urine a couple of times a day everyday for sugar and ketones and he has a large amount of sugar but no ketones. So I will know more on Friday, I am a bit scared to put him on Insulin but if he needs it I will give it my best, I just think it will be hard and I wonder if his sugar is going to be going up and down like crazy, anyway I will try very hard to help my baby Ben all I can, he is so amazing as well and I am so proud of how he copes with the problems he has, his vet also loves him very much ;o) Bye for now, >From Karen,Ben,Glyndwr,James,Cian,Kealan,Tia and Ella :o) *Love and missing my darling Billy so much* http://www.okeefe2.freeserve.co.uk/ 4. Question From: Richard and Katharine Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 17:10:50 -0500 Lily (6) has been on Lysodren for nearly a year now. She had two adrenal surgeries (both sides) and still tested positive for adrenal. We ran the UT test after her symptoms didn't disappear. So, the Lysodren was started. I talked to my vet about running the UT test again just to see what it says so we will know for certain (?) whether the Lysodren is helping. What do you think of that idea? I was planning to take her in a couple of weeks. It's time for her 6 month check-up and I thought that would be a good time. Would love your input. Katharine 5. Great News!! :) From: "Michaela Maurice" Date sent: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 23:47:31 -0000 Wooo :)) thank YOU Dr. Karen:) Bugsy's repeat BG was 85 after a 6 hour fast!! :)) Thank you so much for bringing it up - thinking to ask if it was 12 hour fast :) I had thought to ask if that would make a big difference, but I had forgotten and it seems the vets here (that I've dealt with) don't appreciate what that can do to a ferret. A couple were ready to cart him off for ultrasounds and surgery. All I can say is ...Whew! THANKS :)) On the not so good side, surgeries have been delayed a few weeks. Sigh. I've been ..ohhh just a "bit" of a nervous wreck and I was hoping to get these out of the way but alas not. I did talk to Dr. Weiss about his using cryosurgery on bilaterals and he has done over 30 apparent complete bilaterals (he says apparent since only time will tell if recurrences occur) and while the ferrets need pred and Flurinef (?sp?) for life and there is an dosage adjustment period where side effects can occur, nothing serious as far as I gather. I was pleasantly suprised to find out that he found only about 15% of incomplete bilaterals (not cryo) recurr. Dr. Purcell gave me similar figures (20%). Interesting that recurrences are higher with one adrenal removed versus two. Well, just wanted to thank you and keep everyone updated. Michaela Maurice and the gang: Bugsy, Whitey, Mighty Mouse and Walter (with Spikey forever in our hearts) College of Veterinary Medicine Ohio State Univerisity Class of 2002 6. bilateral adrenalectomy meds. From: LWilson66@aol.com Date sent: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 23:14:14 EST Hi Lynn, I've been a member of this list for a year . I subscribed because my beloved squirrel, Kobuk, had a b.a. last Thanksgiving week--things progressed from there--insulinoma, ulcers, etc. He died on March 4th this year due to lymphoma. Anyway, I was writing in response to your post about meds. I had Kobuk on a lot of meds for the illnesses and the subsequent ulcers. When I got desperate because he was not improving and in fact going downhill (despite pred., etc.), I took him to another vet who specializes in exotics. He took a blood test, and through those results, told me that Kobuk needed to be on Florinef (I believe it was due to out of whack sodium and potassium levels--but I was going nuts then so I'm not certain.) At any rate, it was a blood test, that led this vet to put him on 1/4 tab Florinef per day. He had said that it would probably be for the rest of his life. I also had him on prednisone and carafate. As I understand it, if they need Florinef, they need it every day--and, at least in my case, for the rest of his life. The Florinef literally saved his life--and prolonged it. He was a very different ferret after going on it--in a good way--by the way. The sad part was that he developed the lymphoma, and, after all he had been through, he just couldn't make it. Hope this helps. Wishing you and Gadzook well! Lisa from CA (no longer need to be anonymous, unfortunately) ---------------------- End of FAIML #351 ----------------------