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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2014 15:54:26 GMT -5
Tonto is going to the vet in the morning for a blood panel to test his BG and to make sure nothing else is going on. He has lost 4 ounces and sleeping more. Were hoping its just insu and nothing else. Ill post his readings after his visit.  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2014 16:01:57 GMT -5
Good Luck and big hugs to Tonto. Are you doing a fasting blood test?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2014 16:43:33 GMT -5
I was thinking about fasting but I don't think it will be nessary. I tested him last week even after eating it read 50. He was just playing with gaz shortly before I tested so I'm thinking he has had it a while. (Thank you previous owners for giving him sweet tea with wally world kibble)
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Post by Heather on Dec 19, 2014 17:32:30 GMT -5
No, it does sound like fasting him would be dangerous. People can be so stupid sometimes. The wee ones pay in the long run.....sweet tea..really??!! as though the Wally World kibbles wasn't bad enough
ciao
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2014 18:02:13 GMT -5
Him and his bonded pair got got anything and everything that was loaded with sugar. To top it off the couple was drunk and said they have been in the cage the last 6 months before we got them. Im going to get my meter matched up with the vets test and see how much off it is. Then im testing her im sure she is next but she doesnt sleep near as much as him and plays more.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2014 0:40:08 GMT -5
Poor Tonto, hope he feels better. A reading of 50 after eating, even if your meter was 20 points off (don't think they can even be that far off) it would still be 70 or under and that's a confirmed case of Insulinoma. Unless little Tonto's BG reading above 89, I'd say Insulinoma. But it's not the end of the world, proper meds and diet can let these little guys live up to 3yrs+ with the disease. Hope all went well  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2014 13:26:24 GMT -5
So we just got back the good news is I love the vet he asked about diet. I explained he is on raw and he even said that's why his coat is so soft and he is doing so well. Our meter read 27 at the office we are getting a chemistry panel ran so I'm waiting on the call for the results and he will prescribe the pedi predi with a stomach coater. The vet said our meter is not right. they had to burrito him to get blood Tonto even started nipping the vet said he isn't in the clear of no insu but there is no way his BG Is that low with his strength. So patiently waiting for how low it really is.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2014 13:32:27 GMT -5
Good Luck and I will be sending Well Wishes. Hooray for a Vet that approves of raw. Tonto no like Vet, Tonto strong, want to go home...  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2014 14:13:32 GMT -5
The vet called his BG was 62.5 the test they used normal is 62 to 198. So no prescription. He said it maybe thats just were tonto runs he is getting to be an old ferret and they do tend to slow down with age. Everything else came back in normal range. This vet has 4 ferrets of his own so I want to believe he wouldnt tell me wrong. He said to come back in 6months for another panel just to make sure nothing changes. Tonto didn't star gaze or anything he just maybe weasel war dances 1 or 2 times a week and runs through the house about 1.5 hours then he sleeps. He is 6-7 years old.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2014 19:37:40 GMT -5
Anything under 70 is a diagnosis and needs treatment, even in the 80's it can need treatment if you suspect Insu, you need him on some Pred asap. My girls was 72 and we put her on Pred. My Vet also wanted my girls to be lower, but guess who wanted to put her on Pred? Me. Guess what happened when I did put her on Pred? She got better, a lot better.
You can tell him you are concerned and ask if you can at least try it and see if he gets better, I don't think any Vet would say no to giving it a shot. Give it 7-10 days to work, if he feels better, there you go.
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Post by unclejoe on Dec 20, 2014 22:45:55 GMT -5
I don't know why they couldn't do a BG in the office. We've had a couple ferrets below 50 when they were tested and they acted normal except slept more and we caught them staring into space once each so we tested them. We got lucky the seizures we saw were minor and we had pred on hand. But yeah, below 70 is cause for concern. I don't know what test they do, but normally, normal is about 80-110 mg/dL. mmol/L is like 4-6 I think. That's a new scale to me. 198 is getting into diabetic territory.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2014 0:18:45 GMT -5
They did a blood chemistry but that's a crazy range the 62.5 to 198. I'd think the guy has 4 of his own ferrets he knows what's going on. At one point he used to distribute them. They are getting a machine in to do a cdc. I have a few more fuzzies going to go then Tonto will be going back once the cdc machine is calibrated for ferrets. I know he said 6 months. I know I'm not familiar with just "old" ferrets but I worry at the end of the normal range I'd think the minimal doasage. He even pointed out at home he is relaxed which yes he is and will sleep in my lap after he's ran around the house for 1.5 hours vs he was a total spaz at the vet the guy even said all ferrets have "white coat symdrome" he's fine at the vet but the test says other. He did seem very knowledgeable but it's my Tonto he is my first lap ferret so I worry I didn't see anything online that was close to that range. I don't want to press on it because we have so many that need their check ups and literally this vet is 5 minutes from my house all others that will see ferrets are 1 hour away. Tonto really doesn't star gaze he did when they were on kibble in august he'd be hyper for 30mins then flat ferret you could roll him over but since his diet has changed he doesn't do that. I told the vet all of that. I'm assuming Tonto went nuts when they took blood. The vet was surprised at his strength. Tonto is quite the easily aggravated thing he has been refuseing everthing but chicken and when I add too much of another protein to his soup he will nip hard. They always have a food hoard I even asked if I needed to worry about him having a seizure. I only clean their food hoard once a week so he always has access to food.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2014 0:23:59 GMT -5
I meant to add they did run his blood in office the machine was calibrated for rabbits they had to call make sure it was accurate for ferrets I had my results within an hour. We just didnt want to wait around for the results Tonto was pissed after being wrapped and trying to dig out of the carrier. I used the free style lite meter is seems to be about double the points off. The test strip are very expensive so we assumed accurate (wrong) I bought the true2go awhile back and it kept giving me an error that the meter was bad.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2014 0:32:37 GMT -5
Honestly he really needs to be on some medicine, I wouldn't doubt Insulinoma with that reading, that is not a good reading and is fairly low, if he isn't treated he could crash and seize. Not trying to scare you but I have seen this too many times to count and it isn't a good thing to go through.
I would call your Vet to write a presciption for a small amount of Prednisolone (it's dirt cheap, when first starting $30 lasted over 2 months), and start him on a low dose, usually they do around 0.2 or 0.25 ml twice a day. You could do it for about 10 days, if he shows improvement which I'm quite sure he will, then that's great and you can keep it up, if not (which personally I doubt) then he's probably fine. But it can't hurt to try, there is no downside to this.
My girl I really did not think she had Insulinoma, because literally all she did was sleep, that's it. She had no hind leg weakness, she didn't stare into space, she didn't have any of the classic symptoms except she just slept more often but she was 7 years old and had Adrenal disease. Tested her BG at home after fasting and it was 60, tested it at the Vet after she had eaten shortly before and it was 72. Started her on Prednisolone, small dose at 0.1 ml and within 2 days she was a new ferret, I couldn't believe it. She had no symptoms and all the sudden she was hopping around and better than ever.
Can't hurt to try.
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