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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 15:59:21 GMT -5
Hello everyone! I just got back from the vet a little while ago. It has been confirmed that Bella has Insulinoma. Her BG was at 1.7 mmol/L (30.6 mg/dl)!! The normal range is 4.95 mmol/L to 6.88 mmol/L They had to take a syringe to draw the blood as her veins are very tiny. She has been put on Prednisone. My concern is of all 3 Vets in my city, none of them deal with Ferrets, but this one told me to bring her in. She had to do some research. She told me that I had done some good investigating because everything I told her I found, she found also. The only thing I'm concerned about is the dosage of her Prednisone. She gave me seven 5mg tablets and she scored them in 8 pieces. According to her calculations she could have up to 4mg/day, but this dose is 1.25/day. I'll take some advice for those of you that have experience with the Prednisone. They also weighed her and she came in at 0.7 lbs, however they weighed her on their large scale, which if I'm right it wouldn't be accurate with a little ferret?? Any advice and input would be greatly appreciated. I want to thank you all so much for being here for me and Bella. This is a great place to be! xo
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Post by Heather on Dec 17, 2014 16:04:25 GMT -5
Are you using prednisone or prednisolone? You should be using prednisolone as it's easier on the ferret's system and less long term effects. I use pediapred. It's easier to administer and calculate how much is needed and they don't mind the taste. I hate pilling ferrets. Cutting pills into 8 pieces is so risky, they don't break apart properly and it's just too easy to mess it up. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 16:09:35 GMT -5
I have been waiting for this update all day-I'm sorry it was what we all did not want to hear The good news is now you know and can treat her! I do not have experience with pred, but many members do and can assist you from their experience. I did not check your switching thread before posting here, but I'm shocked at her weight! I think I remember seeing that you weigh her... is this weight (0.07lb) correct? Hang in there! I'll be checking in later!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 16:21:55 GMT -5
Are you using prednisone or prednisolone? You should be using prednisolone as it's easier on the ferret's system and less long term effects. I use pediapred. It's easier to administer and calculate how much is needed and they don't mind the taste. I hate pilling ferrets. Cutting pills into 8 pieces is so risky, they don't break apart properly and it's just too easy to mess it up. ciao Hello Heather, The bottle says Novo Prednisone 5mg. Where do you get the pediapred? I don't want to make things worse for her that's for sure. And with not having a Vet here that handles ferrets it makes it difficult for me to trust them 100%. I'm just appreciative that one of them told me to bring her in. You use Pediapred only? I'm so new to all of this and I'm so scared to lose her.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 16:25:05 GMT -5
I have been waiting for this update all day-I'm sorry it was what we all did not want to hear The good news is now you know and can treat her! I do not have experience with pred, but many members do and can assist you from their experience. I did not check your switching thread before posting here, but I'm shocked at her weight! I think I remember seeing that you weigh her... is this weight (0.07lb) correct? Hang in there! I'll be checking in later! Thank you ferretmomma! I knew there was something wrong with my baby, that maternal instinct was telling me. I'm just happy to finally know what it is so I could make her better. As for her weight, the vet weighed her on the big scale that they would use for large dogs and I don't think that would be accurate for a little ferret. I've weighed her on my kitchen scale by putting her in a bowl and she weighs 1.1 lbs. Thank you so much for your support. What a great group to be a part of!
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Post by raynebc on Dec 17, 2014 17:16:45 GMT -5
If they were over a pound off on the weight, who knows how off the prescription is.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 17:38:34 GMT -5
I'm so sorry to hear that Bella has Insulinoma. The good news is that managed properly, she will have alot more time with you. Insulinoma is techinically the opposite of diabetes, but think of it in those terms. If you manage it correctly, she will be able to live longer. Did your vet mention that she will need to have something to coat her stomach, before you administer the Meds? The best thing that you can do is learn as much as possible. You will be her best health advocate. I would call the vet back and see if you can get some Prednisolone or Pediapred, it's much easier on their little bodies. Here is some basic info: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/16664/insulinoma-docholisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/2702/insulinoma-overviewholisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/474/symptoms-crashing-treatmentSome of the symptoms that you may see, when her Blood Glucose crashes will be gazing or staring off into space. Hind leg weakness, lethargy and more sleeping. You can learn to test her BG at home. www.unc.edu/~pjdutche/bloodsugar/If she crashes or has a seizure, a little karo syrup on her mouth will help to bring her out of it. We have alot of ferrents with experience with Insulinoma and everyone will be here to help you learn about this and understand her illness.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 17:51:55 GMT -5
I'm s sorry, 30 isn't a good reading but if she wasn't crashing with that reading or having serious symptoms that means she has adapted to the low BG (she could have had it a while now) but also can mean the meds won't need a very high dose.
I've never used tablets but they aren't very good from what I hear, like Heather said it's easy to under or overdose which is dangerous, they need a steady dose. If it were me, I'd call your Vet and ask if they will prescribe some liquid Prednisolone or Pediapred (what I use). It's dirt cheap and Pediapred tastes better, it's Prednisolone but just not as bitter because it's for children. They usually start out on a low dose, my girl was started on 0.2 ml twice a day, and in her last weeks was on 2.4 ml twice a day (too much for her weight). My girl that weighed 1.6lbs had a max dose of 1.8 ml twice a day. It depends on their weight, usually they can sustain a lower dose up until the end months.
You're not going to lose Bella, not yet, she will show improvement with her medicine and you also need to start making sure she eats at LEAST every 6 hours, 4-5 is better. On raw they are much stable but they still need to eat more often. Make sure you feed her before giving her medicine to her. If you don't give food and or carafate to coat the stomach before giving pred it can and usually does cause gastric ulcers, carafate is the treatment, but feeding before giving Pred (at least an ounce is best) does well to help prevent it. I've had 2 babies with Insulinoma, my first girl was happy up until the end, we couldn't get her meds at the exact right dose, my other girl hopped around like a new ferret once she was treated but it was a combination of 3 cancers that took her. I believe your girl has some good time and a long life ahead of her, don't worry, once you get the meds sorted out and read up it will get better, I promise.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 19:08:15 GMT -5
I'm so sorry to hear that Bella has Insulinoma. The good news is that managed properly, she will have alot more time with you. Insulinoma is techinically the opposite of diabetes, but think of it in those terms. If you manage it correctly, she will be able to live longer. Did your vet mention that she will need to have something to coat her stomach, before you administer the Meds? The best thing that you can do is learn as much as possible. You will be her best health advocate. I would call the vet back and see if you can get some Prednisolone or Pediapred, it's much easier on their little bodies. Here is some basic info: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/16664/insulinoma-docholisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/2702/insulinoma-overviewholisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/474/symptoms-crashing-treatmentSome of the symptoms that you may see, when her Blood Glucose crashes will be gazing or staring off into space. Hind leg weakness, lethargy and more sleeping. You can learn to test her BG at home. www.unc.edu/~pjdutche/bloodsugar/If she crashes or has a seizure, a little karo syrup on her mouth will help to bring her out of it. We have alot of ferrents with experience with Insulinoma and everyone will be here to help you learn about this and understand her illness. Thank you Poncesmom! You have provided me with some reading material tonight...thank you so much. The vets here don't know anything about ferrets. I just got one that said to bring her in and she did some research, but I'm worried about the weight issue. At the Vet they put her on their huge scale and she weighed in at 0.7 lbs and here on my kitchen scale, which I put a bowl on and then use the Tare option so it zeroes it shows that she weighs 1.7 lbs. I need to adjust her medication. Time to do more research. I'm also looking for an online pharmacy where there is no prescription needed. If anyone knows of one please let me know. Thank you pouncesmom for all the info and the encouraging words you have passed on to me. xo
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 19:14:45 GMT -5
Try the Wedgewood Pharmacy online: I had my Vet call in the prescription and they simply mailed the meds to me. The Prednisolone was not helping Ponce and we decided to add Diazoxide. It was insanely expensive thru our local pharmacy (about $300) and my vet was so helpful and the med online was only around $99. You might look into Diazoxide further down the road. www.wedgewoodpetrx.com/
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 19:20:09 GMT -5
I'm s sorry, 30 isn't a good reading but if she wasn't crashing with that reading or having serious symptoms that means she has adapted to the low BG (she could have had it a while now) but also can mean the meds won't need a very high dose. I've never used tablets but they aren't very good from what I hear, like Heather said it's easy to under or overdose which is dangerous, they need a steady dose. If it were me, I'd call your Vet and ask if they will prescribe some liquid Prednisolone or Pediapred (what I use). It's dirt cheap and Pediapred tastes better, it's Prednisolone but just not as bitter because it's for children. They usually start out on a low dose, my girl was started on 0.2 ml twice a day, and in her last weeks was on 2.4 ml twice a day (too much for her weight). My girl that weighed 1.6lbs had a max dose of 1.8 ml twice a day. It depends on their weight, usually they can sustain a lower dose up until the end months. You're not going to lose Bella, not yet, she will show improvement with her medicine and you also need to start making sure she eats at LEAST every 6 hours, 4-5 is better. On raw they are much stable but they still need to eat more often. Make sure you feed her before giving her medicine to her. If you don't give food and or carafate to coat the stomach before giving pred it can and usually does cause gastric ulcers, carafate is the treatment, but feeding before giving Pred (at least an ounce is best) does well to help prevent it. I've had 2 babies with Insulinoma, my first girl was happy up until the end, we couldn't get her meds at the exact right dose, my other girl hopped around like a new ferret once she was treated but it was a combination of 3 cancers that took her. I believe your girl has some good time and a long life ahead of her, don't worry, once you get the meds sorted out and read up it will get better, I promise. Thank you so much Julesalot! Your words of encouragement mean a lot. I'm going to be researching and adjusting her dose, like I said the Vet that at least checked her out for me is not very knowledgeable at all, but at least they were able to get her BG checked. I actually was teaching them about ferrets. lol She was starting to recommend cat foods and I stopped her quickly by letting her know that I was not switching from the RAW diet, of course she does not recommend it. I'm grateful that she agreed to see her. They used a syringe to pull the blood from her and then put it through my father in law's Glucometer. I did feed her prior to her meds and I will make sure to do so every time. I'm definitely going to be switching to pediapred, as soon as I could find it. I have come across an online pharmacy that does not require a prescription, but I need to check into it further. I'm so anxious to see Bella hop around just like Mia.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 19:21:36 GMT -5
Try the Wedgewood Pharmacy online: I had my Vet call in the prescription and they simply mailed the meds to me. The Prednisolone was not helping Ponce and we decided to add Diazoxide. It was insanely expensive thru our local pharmacy (about $300) and my vet was so helpful and the med online was only around $99. You might look into Diazoxide further down the road. www.wedgewoodpetrx.com/I'm on it right now!! Thanks again!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 19:43:21 GMT -5
Make sure the MG/per ML suspension is correct and that your Vet figures up the right dosage for her, this is very important, you don't want to under dose or over dose her, never do your own dosing, you can slowly increase the dose over time as long as your Vet says it's OK to do so without contacting her first, I always called my Vet before doing so, even though he says he trusts me, I don't trust myself with something like that. That's a lot for Diazoxide Stef, phew, I paid $40 per 25 ml bottle, in the end it was $100 per month, in the beginning was $20 per month. Much more potent so it is a smaller dose. I got mine from Roadrunner Pharmacy in case you want to check it out, it's online. My best advice is to contact your Vet first, they may not be very ferret knowledgeable but they know more (at least medicine/dosing wise) and should always be the go-to.
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Post by Heather on Dec 17, 2014 20:48:21 GMT -5
Work with your vet. Do not try and figure out dosages without her input. Even if she doesn't know ferrets, she has access to information that you don't. I've worked with vets who've no clue about ferrets but if they're willing to work with you and research in places you can go they're worth their weight in gold....believe me. Don't play with these drugs without support of your vet. Pred isn't a joke around drug, the side effects will kill your little if you don't get your math right. I'm not trying to scare you but this drug is not a nice drug and it's rather like playing with the devil. Pred is more than capable of saving your little one but it can also shut her organs down. If this vet you're working with, is willing to take on the responsibility of helping care for your little one and you're willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and to help her with your knowledge, you could very well find yourself in a very good working relationship :thumbsup:. Diazoxide is usually the drug of last resort it's used when there is no hope and it's the last hope. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2014 20:58:20 GMT -5
I agree with you Heather, however how do I tell a Vet that she shouldn't be weighing my ferret on that large scale because it's not accurate?
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