From: Lynn McIntosh [faiml@uswest.net] Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2000 12:35 PM To: FAIMLanon; FAIML Subject: FAIML #395; Feb. 26, 2000 Ferret Adrenal/Insulinoma Mailing List (FAIML) #395; Feb. 26, 2000 Hi. It's me, Lynn. Reading of the two recent losses here got me crying this morning. I'm grateful to all of you who hang in there and receive a list that involves so much lost and illness. But we have our triumphs and joys, too, thank goodness. These little guys play my heatstrings like a twelve-string guitar. Fortunately, so much of the music is beautiful and happy. I look forward to the day that a cure is found for cancer. My healing thoughts and prayers are with you today, Amy and Cay, and with T-2 and Butch. I like to think of my beautiful Tarzan as a greeter and caretaker at the Bridge, a role he played supremely in life. Fuzzy hugs. Lynn Mc. 1. URGENT POST: insulinoma problem 2. Not prepared for this one. 3. Question 4. Please subscribe me; Chuckie question 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. URGENT POST: insulinoma problem From: "Christine Bertch" Date sent: Fri, 03 Mar 2000 21:35:48 -0800 I hope someone can help us soon. Missy, my ferret with insulinoma (and formerly adrenal tumors) has very recently become very hypoglycemic. She was on .2 cc twice daily, then I increased it to .25 almost two weeks ago, and just last night increased it to .3 twice daily and she continues to worsen. She doesn't have much energy at all and will not eat much anymore. I hate to force feed her but I will if I have to. My questions are, 1.what are some of your opinions on how high her pred dose can go (she is very small, probably only a pound and a couple ounces at this point), especially when I won't have access to proglycem at least for a few days, and 2.is there anything I should watch out for obviously besides seizuring? Missy has been a little miracle ferret and I want to do everything I can for her. Thank you, Christine, Missy, and Benji 2. Not prepared for this one. From: "Amy Claire Dempsey" Date sent: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 12:28:20 -0400 Well after helping Little Bear across the bridge, I decided to wait a few days before dragging everyone back to the vet. But I did want to take everyone in, Jack so the vet could see how well he was doing (and all the fur coming in), Odie to check on her blood glucose, Whiteness for his ears and T-2 because his stomach had recently gotten really large and we figured it was his spleen and since it was getting harder, and he sometimes made little whining noises when you picked him up, I figure it was probably time for the spleen to go. So off to ingthe vet we went. Jack and Whiteness sitting nicely on the back seat and T-2 in his ever favorite site behind mommies neck and watch the cars go by (Odie prefers to stay in the carrier and sleep). The vet agreed with me that it was time to do something about T-2 his stomach which was just getting too hard, and that it felt like his spleen, and since she was not totally booked for surgery I left T-2 expecting to take a spleenless boy home in the afternoon. Well things were not what we expected. It wasn't his spleen, it was his kidney and adrenal gland, and they were the size of a small grapefruit, it was taking up his entire abdominal cavity. The vet was at a loss of what to do. She took the kidney, the adrenal and the tumor which were all interconnected. Everything else look fine. But before they could close him, he quit breathing. They managed to do CPR and got him going again. About 1 hour later he stopped breathing again and this time they couldn't get him back. I am in shock. My little boy who was bouncing around in the morning, I was burying that afternoon. As my vet said through her tears, she didn't understand how he could have looked so beautiful on the outside and so terrible on the inside. He had the thickest most beautiful coat, no bald spots, no itching, and no aggressive behavior. Now about a year ago he had had a bald tail (only his tail) and we figured it was just "rat tail" which doesn't always indicate adrenal problems. The last year he was a fur ball. We figured he was just getting fat and that the lump in his tummy was his spleen. We were wrong. If only I would have checked him last year when he had the bald tail, maybe we could have caught it in time. If I ever have even the slightest question again on any of my little ones I am going to do everything to check it out. I am still in shock I lost him. Amy and her 3 lonely fur snakes and 15 fur angels. 3. Question From: Lccmtaylor@aol.com Date sent: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 07:29:45 EST My almost three year old (rescued so I'm not exact on the age) male sable ferret, Butch, had surgery for removal of the adrenals last Wednesday. Both adrenal glands were removed and he responded well to surgery, eating and playing (gently) by Saturday. This past Wednesday morning, we woke up to him screaming at 6:30am, I pulled him from his cage and tried to help him, but he was apparently suffering a seizure of some type and died within a few agonizing minutes. My vets (regular and surgeon) were at a loss, but investigation has led me to believe that Butch died from Insuloma. If I had Karo syrup on hand next to his cage, do you know if there was a possibility of my saving him by rubbing it on his gums (something which can be done with my Diabetic dog if her sugar drops). I didn't even think of anything like that until long after we lost Butch and I discovered that this could have been a complication. Should the vets have put Butch on some sort of medication or should I have done something else? I was giving Butch a generous (1 tspn) helping of Ferretvite twice a day and he was eating. I'm looking for answers not to continue to beat myself up for the untimely death of this sweet, gentle, funny member of my family, but in the hopes of saving other ferrets - not just my own but others treated by this vet (considered a ferret expert) and surgeon (considered an outstanding animal surgeon who does many ferrets). Any info you can give would be very greatly appreciated. Respectfully, cay taylor 4. Please subscribe me; Chuckie question From: "Cheryl Steenburn" Date sent: Sun, 05 Mar 2000 01:15:26 -0800 Also, please post this message: Hello. My name's Cheryl Steenburn and I'm owned by 7 fuzzies. One of my ferrets, Chuckie, had surgery on the 24th of January for adrenal gland disease. She's been growing fur lately. About how long does it take for the full coat to come in. Also, how long to grow fur on the tail? Thanks! Cheryl Steenburn Please visit my fuzzies at http://www.inspired-writing.com/fur.htm ----------------------- End of FAIML #395 -------------------------