From: Lynn McIntosh [faiml@uswest.net] Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2000 11:07 PM To: FAIMLanon; FAIML Cc: faiml@uswest.net Subject: FAIML #452; August 9, 2000 Ferret Adrenal/Insulinoma Mailing List (FAIML) #452; August 9, 2000 There are eleven messages in today's list: Vet near Chicago? Treats Konrad Buddy (nausea) Buddy Buddy Update A MESSAGE FOR LYNN MCINTOSH (RILEY) Pediapred Pediapred reply to question about nausea remedy new ferret food?? Marshall Farms FERRET ADRENAL/INSULINOMA MAILING LIST (FAIML) is a list featuring support and information about adrenal and insulinoma diseases. It comes out in digest format three to six times per week, depending on the urgency and number of posts. It is the opinion, only, of subscribers, and is not intended as 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 exhibiting signs of illness please take him or her to the most ferret-experienced vet you can. A ferret-experienced vet is one of the most important services you can provide for 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 and FAIML ARCHIVES/PHOTOS: For more info, check out Michael Janke's adrenal/insulinoma web site: . Past FAIMLs are archived there, with a search feature, and there is a FAIML album featuring pictures of FAIML subscribers and their ferrets. FERRET CENTRAL WEBSITE and PAM GREENE's FERRET FAQs: Ferret Central Website is the grand intersection of ferret websites, at . You can also find the Ferret FAQs there, which include invaluable FAQs on insulinoma and adrenal diseases. I forward these two FAQs 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. 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. Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2000 11:27:57 EDT From: GMRXMAN@aol.com Vet near Chicago? Treats Thanks for catching my mistake! I appreciate it a lot. I copied and corrected the line with the vet reference. Donna Hi. My 5 yr. old little girl was diagnosed with insulinoma and adrenal disease last week. (I am still in tears!) RIght now she started on pred. My vet is wonderful and has done all she could to learn about helping Millie, but she has never done the surgery. We checked into Lupron but found the cost to be $200 to $300 per dose. If anyone knows of any good ferret vets in the suburban Chicagoland area, please let me know. Also, Millie has been trained to come if I shake her can of treats. I have been giving her pieces of cat food now instead of her ferret 8 in 1 treats and also found she likes the cat treat Pounce/Chicken. These don't appear to have any sugar on the labels. If anyone has any other ideas for me, please let me know. I don't want to eliminate this behavior as she sometimes finds new and different places to hide. Thanks in advance for your help. Donna Manning Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 13:17:53 -0400 From: "Sarah Manningsmith" Konrad Well I took Konrad to the vet yesterday. At first, she was all for lowering his Prednisone to 1/4 of a pill twice a day (from 1/2). This was because of his lack of symptoms since his one attack. However, after testing the Blood Glucose, which was still in the mid 50s (this was after fasting for 5 hours), she decided to stay witht he 1/2 pill. He's only been on prednisone for two weeks. How long does it take before Glucose levels should rise? How concerned should I be if his activity is still up and he's not showing symptoms? My vet was shocked at the level considering his alertness. Thanks, Sarah and the fuzzies Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 07:43:55 -0700 From: "E. Rain" Buddy (nausea) Chris asked if there were any medicines that might help with Buddy's nausea. Our vet gave us Reglan recently when Lemke was having a severe case of digitalis toxicity from his meds and violently nauseous. It's an injectable, and the vet can administer the first dose, but trust me, with an ultra-fine insulin needle and a spoon of ferretone it's really easy to give your ferret a subQ shot if she needs subsequent doses. Good luck ___________________________________________________________ WARNING: Dates on the calendar are closer than they appear! Eden Rain raghead@liripipe.com Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 09:09:35 -0400 From: "Melissa" Buddy >Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 16:22:05 -0500 (CDT) >From: "Buetow" >Buddy I would try the surgery if all other causes for the grinding are ruled out. That's just my opinion. Have you checked for other causes for the grinding? ie. ulcers, digestive problems, and possible blockage. Sometimes when ferrets are aready sick from one thing, vets forget to check for the obvious. One of my insulinomic ferrets was helped by something called Viokase. -Not for blood sugar but for digestion. The tumors in the pancreas may have contributed to the lack of proper digestive enzymes. -Melissa __________________________________ http://members.aol.com/NYCFerrets http://home.att.net/~The_Ferrets __________________________________ Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 10:47:30 -0500 (CDT) From: "Buetow" Buddy Update Thank you to all the people who responded to my post about Buddy and her nausea. I'll try to get back to all of you personally. We did blood work on Buddy while I was at the vet and it did not give us any good news. Her liver enzymes (ALTs and ALPs) are extremely elevated. It's very probable that her cancer has spread to her liver. The vet still wants to do surgery. I have some questions formulating in my mind to help me decide whether this is worth it, but any advice about the situation or questions I should ask would be most welcome. Thanks for you help and support. Please put Buddy in your prayers. Chris and the Sunshine Gang buetowc@sls.lib.il.us Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 14:53:04 -0500 From: "Mike & Mary Williamson" A MESSAGE FOR LYNN MCINTOSH (RILEY) DEAR LYNN THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR KEEPING ME ON THE E-MAIL MAILING LIST MY FERRET. RILEY PASSED AWAY TODAY. IT REALLY IS A HEART BREAKER. WE LOVED HIM VERY MUCH I QUESS THE ADRENAL/INSULINOMA WAS TO MUCH FOR HIS BODY TO TAKE ANY MORE. I DO WISH THE BEST OF LUCK TO ANY ONE OUT THERE WITH A SICK FERRET WITH THESE ILLNESSES. THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR E-MAILS MARY WILLIAMSON Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 10:42:35 EDT From: EquineAmy@aol.com pediapred Hi everyone. I have gotten some very alarming reactions to Winnie's pediapred dose and one letter in particular led me to realize why - I guess there are different kinds. Winnie's pediapred is 6.7 mg/5. Sorry I may have made up the units (I can't remember them), but the numbes are correct. I hope this makes more sense to those who thought that her dose was outragously high. -Amy Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 07:52:57 -0700 From: Lynn McIntosh > pediapred Hi Amy. That's the dilution that's Wally's on, but he gets 1.0 ml 2x/day. Before pancreatic surgery he was up to 1.5 ml 2x/day, which is near the top of what should be given (he's been insulinomic about three years). We were thrilled when we had him down to .5 2x/day, after surgery. So you're right in the ballpark of what insulinomic ferrets get. Michael Janke probably has the range posted on his great website. Always consult a vet no matter what you hear on a list, as some may mean well, but be reacting out of emotion rather than experience, or as you've found, there may be a misunderstanding as to the dilution of the drug. Lynn On 4 Aug 00, at 10:42, EquineAmy@aol.com wrote: > Hi everyone. I have gotten some very alarming reactions to Winnie's > pediapred dose and one letter in particular led me to realize why - I guess > there are different kinds. Winnie's pediapred is 6.7 mg/5. Sorry I may have > made up the units (I can't remember them), but the numbes are correct. I hope > this makes more sense to those who thought that her dose was outragously high. > > -Amy Date: Sun, 6 Aug 2000 18:01:43 -0400 (EDT) From: "Clare Sebok" reply to question about nausea remedy Centrene helped one of our ferrets when she was suffering from gastrointestinal side effects of chemotherapy. Also, with an older ferret suffering from nausea, it might be a good idea to check out the kidney function (BUN). Clare Date Wed, 9 Aug 2000 19:05:53 -0700 (PDT) From: "Ron DeBaecke" new ferret food?? Hi all, Want to thank EVERYONE for the emails and ecards i received after Thea's passing the bridge.. I was really touched by such kindness... Anyway, heres something a little off topic. I hope ADMIN doesnt mind, but the list seems to be pretty quiet lately (thank god!)... anyway, while browsing for some top quality dog food for our active Siberian Huskys, i came across this: http://www.eaglepack.com/pages/ferret.html Anyone try it?? they have top of the line dog foods and i wonder if the ferret food is as good?? not sure of the prices and really not sure if i'd switch from Totally Ferret.. just curious.. You can reply private email as this is off topic for the group..... Thanks again Ron ps. hope everyones fuzzies are happy and healthy! my TWO are doing great..... MODERATOR'S NOTE: ADMIN here *grin*. I've never been called that before, though I am somewhat of a manager in real life. I got a good chuckle out of that, Ron - thanks :) Actually, I consider food issues pertinent to care of diseases, but thank you for commenting that it might be off topic, Ron. :)) Lynn Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2000 17:03:06 EDT From: Cjbandit@aol.com Marshall Farms Hi everyone, I just discovered Marshall Farms makes its money by breeding animals such as beagles and ferrets and then selling them to laboratories where the animals are tormented in painful experiments. Petco purchases the ferrets it sells from Marshall Farms. The United State Department Of Agriculture has investigated Marshall Farms several times for violating the Animal Welfare Act. USDA inspection reports disclose disturbing practices at this notorious breeding factory, including unqualified individuals spaying and neutering animals and failing to provide animals with even the most basic care and protections. In 1992 Garry Marshall, the owner of Marshall Farms, was charged with 74 counts of cruelty, inhumane transport, and failure to provide proper care, food, and water for 74 dogs being shipped to Switzerland for toxicology experiments. In addition, a 1998 fire claimed the lives of 51 pregnant beagles and 449 puppies because no alarms or sprinkler systems were install in its facilities. I am outraged by this information and will not purchase any of Marshall Farms products nor will I shop at Petco who carries their products. If you feel the same you could write a letter to Petco and Marshall Farms. Petco address is: Brian K. Devine, CEO Petco Animal Supplies,Inc. 9125 Recho Road San Diego, CA 92121 Thank you for reading this, Christina & Bandit MODERATOR'S NOTE: Please reply to this post off-list as it does not address adrenal or insulinoma diseases. Lynn Mc. ----------------------- End of FAIML #452 -------------------------