From: Lynn McIntosh [faiml@uswest.net] Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2000 2:48 PM To: FAIML; FAIMLanon; FAIML Cc: faiml@miamiferret.org Subject: FAIML #390; Feb. 20, 2000 Ferret Adrenal/Insulinoma Mailing List (FAIML) #390; Feb. 20, 2000 1. Cedes, the Insulinomic Little Boy 2. arge spleen/weight gain 3. Little Bear 4. Reply: Interferon 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! A ferret- experienced vet is one of the most important services you can provide to your ferret. 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 email. 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 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. Cedes, the Insulinomic Little Boy From: "katharine" Date sent: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 09:17:58 -0500 About a week ago, I wrote about Cedes (as in Mercedes), a 5-6 y.o. little boy whose owner wanted him euthanized because he was diagnosed with insulinoma. On Thursday, February 10, he was given to me (with the previous owner's permission). Cedes spent the day at the vet on Wednesday. That was Lily's chemo day so I took both of them. He (Cedes) had gained about 4 oz. (a combination of prednisone and the goo I've been feeding him). His vet said he didn't even look like the same ferret. His blood sugar level had risen to a very low acceptable level (about 90). As you know, surgery is the next step. Cedes is scheduled for surgery on Monday a.m. and I want to ask all of you to say a little prayer for him. He has managed to weasle his way into my heart very quickly (don't they always??). I will be observing the surgery, my first, and will know the exact location of the exit door in case I have to leave . I think I can handle all but the initial incision. I'll just scrunch up my eyes for that part. We don't know what we'll find inside him. Doc is pretty certain it's insulinoma, based on bloodwork and other symptoms but, he could have other problems as well. All will be checked out and decisions made at that time. Cedes has never seen a vet until his seizure, has never had shots, and has terrible teeth. I hope to work on the teeth problem after his recovery from surgery. I believe that is part of the reason he will only eat goo, no kibble. I've even given him Friskies Ocean Flavor (what he's lived on for 3+ years) and he's not interested. He makes funny chewing noises when he eats. I've been mixing Hill's A/D, Gerber's chicken baby food, a dab of Pedialyte, and ground kibble. He will only eat if I sit right there with him and feed him from a spoon or my finger. Please keep little Cedes in your thoughts on Monday. I want to keep the little guy around for a long time. Katharine 2. arge spleen/weight gain From: "Debbie Magerr" Date sent: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 17:41:23 -0800 Sid has a very large spleen & a limp. I took him to the vet for x-rays & glucose. Both inconclusive. Heart ok, very large spleen, glucose normal/low, so I decided to try a high protein diet anyway, but now he's gaining weight. Should I keep him on the diet? (chicken baby food/ferretone/pet tinic) dry food always available. He seems slower when he gains weight because his belly is already big. Debbie & Sid 3. Little Bear From: "Amy Claire Dempsey" Date sent: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 11:53:40 -0400 It is with great sorrow, I helped Little Bear across the rainbow bridge on Friday afternoon. In the end it wasn't the insulinoma or the adrenal cancer, or the cancer on the roof of her mouth or her lump and bumps and tumors that she seem to have everywhere, but one little tumor just inside her vulva which was making it difficult for her to pee. And no matter what we did she would pee all over herself and cry the whole time. I just couldn't watch her suffer. She had had it a long time, but in an 8 year old ferret with multiple other problems you don't think about putting her through the surger. Suddenly this last week it began to grow. We also noted that she was begining to retain fluids and I knew the end was near. She spent the afternoon at work with me then we went to the vet. I continually had doubts if I was doing the right thing - I felt like I was killing my baby girl. But then as slipped over the bridge she smiled at me and I knew I had made the right decision. Little Bear was just over 9 years old, and she got to have that last year because of all the wonderful people and information available on this list. Little Bear and I thank you all. Amy and her 4 fur snakes and 14 fur angels. PS. Jack continues to do wonderful - as does Odie, Little Bear's older sister! 4. Reply: Interferon From: "Karen Purcell, DVM" Date sent: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 22:14:06 +0000 Shelley, Lynn and list, Shelley wrote an involved case report on the use of Interferon in her shelter. I won't reproduce it, as it is too long for the list, but Lynn had some good questions at the end. > > MODERATOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the info, Shelley. It's important to share new > ideas on the list, especially in a field, ferret medicine, where things change > rapidly and often aren't yet researched or published. I only know of one > ferret that was on interferon and she got sicker and sicker, and ended up > needing florinef. I kept worrying about her and checked out a website on > interferon for treatment of hepatitis in humans. The descriptions of side > effects really worried me, bigtime (though the Lupron website has lists of > side effects, too). I guess what caught my eye with the interferon was > people's testimonies of how they really had to screw up their courage to try > the drug due to 1) nasty, common side effects, and 2) the fact that the > results were really spotty in terms of efficacy, in combination with the side > effects. Of course, one can't really extrapolate from humans to ferrets > (consider the side effects of pred in humans versus pred in ferrets, at least > from outward appearance in ferrets). Interferon use in cats was studied rather extensively in regard to treating leukemia and FIV positive individuals. After many trials, the jury is pretty convinced that it doesn't work. In cats, anyway. >SNIP> I don't mean to be a wet > blanket. Just that there are about three drugs that Dr. Weiss has put through > clinical trials and did research first to check that there was some basis for > them working. But you did say, Shelley, that this might be something to try > for ferrets whose options were exhausted. Still and all, I'd recommend > checking it out very carefully, including checking with other experienced > ferret vets, first. Other opinions? Vets? Everyone should be careful with any new drug protocol, regardless. We all know that Lupron doesn't help every adrenal ferret, or even exactly how it works - which is one of the reasons medicine is as much an art as a science. I'd certainly like to see some trials on interferon in ferrets before I would use it. Especially as ferrets with adrenal disease can go into the appearance of remission without any treatment at all. My 0.02, anyway, Karen Purcell DVM Author of Essentials of Ferrets: A Guide for Practitioners drkaren@world.std.com Uxbridge, MA ----------------------- End of FAIML #390 -------------------------