From: Lynn McIntosh [faiml@uswest.net] Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2000 3:25 AM To: FAIMLanon; FAIML Subject: FAIML #486; Dec. 7, 2000 Ferret Adrenal/Insulinoma Mailing List (FAIML) #486; Dec. 7, 2000 There are eight messages in today's list: Squamous cell carcinoma Diabetic insulinomic ferret Dustie in Austin Looking for a Ferret Vet in Atlanta reggie & rhea Stacy's fuzzy baby Colitis Colitis in insulinomic ferret FERRET ADRENAL/INSULINOMA MAILING LIST (FAIML) is 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 sent: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 14:02:42 EST From: Ferretmoms@aol.com Subject: Squamous cell carcinoma I have this case of ferret's disease, Squamous cell carcinoma, that I am not too knowledgeable about as of yet. I've run across many kinds, but this is a first. I've done a great deal of researches in the ferret clinic's websites. I was not able to get too much informations out of it except for Dr. William's website. I would appreciate so much if anyone that has/had experienced this terrible disease, would give me ideas, tips, new methods, new surgeries out there maybe, just anything that anyone knows and I would take all of them. Please send it to Ferretmoms@aol.com so I can collect them all together. Tootise is currently about 6-7, but is very healthy and acts like 3 years old, is currently eating hard food and duck soup to keep her weight stablized, has an early stage of insolumina which she is on Pred. already. She just had the surgery to remove the front long fang on the right s! ide and 1-2 little teeth and a little bit of mass that ate abit of her mouth's roof last week. The surgery seems to relieve Tootise because she's not in much pain now. Much more active and alert afterwards. Eats much more often now. Many thanks for all the help we can get. April, Deb and the wardancers MN Wardancer Ranch and Rescue Date sent: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 12:09:52 -0500 (EST) From: "Pam Sessoms" Subject: Diabetic insulinomic ferret Hey Lynn, I'm new to the list but have used the archives often and they are always extremely helpful. I feel like I know some of you! Forgive repeats of this message, I'm posting to a few different lists but thought people here might have especially good input. My sweet Sonic has a new problem. It would take me a long time to recap her entire history, but briefly, she is 7, blind, arthritic, and was recently treated for Helicobacter/ulcers with Biaxin, Amoxi, and Carafate. She also has insulinoma, has had surgery, and has been on Pediapred (1 mg/kg) twice daily for about 4 or 5 months and diazoxide (10 mg/kg) twice daily for two and a half months; the diazoxide was added after the pred on its own didn't work so well. Her glucose was remarkably stable on this regime (90-120 range) until recently when it went very high. It is now in the 350-570 range. She is very thirsty and drinks a lot but also pees a ton and seems to have trouble staying hydrated. She groans when she pees (urinalysis being done today) and also when she wakes up. We are cutting back both the pred and the diazoxide with an eye toward totally eliminating the diazoxide in a few days. She really does not feel good at all, my poor sweet girl. SO my questions are: Has anyone ever had an insulinomic ferret become diabetic from pred and/or diazoxide? And if so, did you get things back to normal by cutting back or stopping either one? What I read about diabetes in ferrets in general is not promising, but I am hoping that since this was probably brought on by the meds, if we tinker around with them, we'll again find a happy dose that will control her blood sugar properly. I have found one case in the FAIML archives where an insulinomic ferret in a similar situation (but only on pred) actually had to go on insulin eventually to control the diabetes. Any anecdotes or words of wisdom greatly appreciated! Best wishes, -Pam S. Date sent: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 18:01:47 -0600 From: "Lynne Wooldridge" Subject: Dustie in Austin Dear Lynn, I am finally back online after many months. Dustie has finally recovered from ece and has moved on to a new crisis (of course!) His adrenal disease is more serious now (takes lupron injections) with a little hair loss and problems with urination at times (takes baytril for this). His insulinoma is under fair control with the pred. He has fluid on his lungs, which may be due to allergies. He has had this condition to varying degrees since 1998. I recently had to cancel surgery for a large mast cell tumor on his tail, due to concerns about the safety of the surgery with the fluid situation. The mast cell tumor is midway on his tail, very large, a black and pink mess really, which bleeds at times a little. I would love to take that awful thing off of him, but do not want to risk his life doing it. Anyone have any experience with mast cell tumors? It started out so small. I first noticed it the first day that Dustie came down with ece last November 15th. It is marshmallow size now. Dustie must be close to ten years old now. He is much, much slowed down, but eats well and seems comfortable, in spite of hindend weakness and some problems making it to the bathroom area in my room. I have missed hearing about everyone's little fur guys. I hope to hear from you all soon. Lynne Date sent: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 23:21:06 EST From: Mustalayday@aol.com Subject: Looking for a Ferret Vet in Atlanta We're relocating to Atlanta and I'm on the lookout for a good ferret vet.  Any referrals?   Also, does anyone know what the pro/anti ferret climate is in that area?   Thanks!  Eugie  http://members.aol.com/mustalayday Date sent: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 11:50:40 -0500 From: "Erin E. Shepherd" Subject: reggie & rhea i put my 6 year old male, reggie, down two weeks ago.i ran out of ideas to try and aleviate the symptoms ofhis insulinoma, and i couldn't watch him suffer anymore. needless to say, it was a very difficultdecision to make. i greatly appreciate theguidance i received on this listserv and the miamiferret website. without it, i would never have known to alter his diet and feeding schedule when he was first diagnosed.   his lifelong companion, rhea, is adjusting well. she's alone much of the time, though. it would be nice if she could meet some new ferret faces.. i live in tallahassee if anyone wants to get together for some ferret playtime. e ~~<:))))><~~~<:))))><~~~~<:))))><~~~~~~>*)((((((>>><~~ Erin E. Shepherd Member Services Director Associated Home Health Industries of Florida, Inc. ees@ahhif.org http://www.ahhif.org Date sent: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 17:53:39 -0500 From: "keclark" Subject: Stacy's fuzzy baby Post:  Just a thought for Stacy and her little guy that is rubbing it's mouth on everything. It may have a sore tooth or abscess. It was one thing I thought of when Zackari slowed down on his eating. But the vet said his teeth were fine. I would do something very soon and not wait any longer. Hugs to all the sick babies out there and their humans that love them. Kathy & Zackari Tampa, FL Date sent: Sun, 3 Dec 2000 09:12:11 -0500 From: "Michael F. Janke" Subject: Colitis >From: "Christine Bertch" >Subject: Colitis in insulinomic ferret > >I was just wondering if anyone else whose ferrets are taking prednisone >for insulinoma have developed colitis. Beasley's been getting pred for quite some time now and I haven't seen anything like that. Also, quite a few ferrets in our shelter got pred for extended periods of time and I don't recall Angela ever saying anything about any side effects like colitis. As for the flagyl, yeah, it's nasty stuff but I've had some success mixing the dose into about 10cc's of chicken baby food. For the ferrets, Mike * Michael F. Janke, mjanke@miamiferret.org * South Florida Ferret Help Line, 305-752-7040 * * Website: http://www.miamiferret.org * Adrenal/Insulinoma web site: http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc Date sent: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 08:12:29 -0500 From: "katharine" Subject: Colitis in insulinomic ferret Christine wrote: After studying a fecal sample to rule out infections, my vet prescribed Metronidazole. Unfortunately, Benji absolutely will not tolerate it--not even mixed in food/ferretone, and gets so upset that I cannot continue it. Christine: You have to force Benji to take his flagyl (metronidazole). It is what he needs. It is a huge battle. I recently had two on it twice a day as part of their ECE regimen. I don't know whether you've tasted it but it is horrid, even after it's compounded (if it's liquid, it's been compounded). But, it's necessary. I mixed about half of their dosage in soup (the whole dosage was too strong and they wouldn't eat the soup at all), give the balance from the syringe, then immediatley started feeding the soup. It was never pleasant for any of us but we all lived through it. I still am finding bits of it around the kitchen from their spitting and slinging it out of the mouths, along with that bright pink SMZ/TMP, which they also hated. My vet actually prescribes a larger dosage than needed because he knows they will spit out part of it. An interesting tidbit. After being off of metranidazole for several weeks, Cedes still resists when he sees a syringe coming his way. What memories they have! I can't answer your prednisone/colitis question but I would think that pred could aggravate a pre-existing condition, not necessarily cause it. Keep trying with Benji. It's the best thing for him. Mix as much as he will tolerate in his soup then quickly squirt the rest in his mouth. Katharine ---------------------- End of FAIML #486------------------------