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Post by MamaWeasel on Dec 23, 2014 10:28:56 GMT -5
Hey there. I recently have been informed my baby has insulinoma and adrenal tumors. He is four. He still has a lot of spirit and plays and eats once a day, and I was wanting to know if anyone has any advice on how to lessen his symptoms, or increase his blood sugar if at least for a while. The tumors are inoperable. He has been my buddy through a lot, and I don't want him to suffer unnecessarily ((or at all, of course)). thanks in advance, from Gidget and me.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 11:01:29 GMT -5
What treatment is he on for this? With proper medication our fuzzies can live several years with these doseases. I've had 2 ferrets with insulinoma and one with adrenal.
Deslorelin is usually the best option for Adrenal, its an implant that they get every 6 months and works well, usually we combine this with a melatonin implant as this helps with hair loss and such.
For Insulinoma Prednisolone or Pediapred is most always used, as their symptoms come back or get worse you increase the dosage slowly to keep it controlled. A raw diet is probably the best thing you can do for an Insulinomic ferret other than proper meds, it helps keep their BG much more stable and can increase their lifespan. Firsthand experience with this, I would really consider it.
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Post by MamaWeasel on Dec 23, 2014 12:02:30 GMT -5
Thanks for the quick reply! I have a lot of respect for my veterinarian, but he has not prescribed anything at this point, he does not hold out too much hope. I am tight tight tight on finances, as I just moved, so he is the only doctor I can afford. He's done two surgeries on Gidget previously and had great success. I will ask him about the treatment and see if we can give it a try. I feed him coconut oil and Nutrical for his bouts of low blood sugar, which last week would not go above 40. I feed him freeze dried raw when I can afford it. He is spoiled on kibble, but would feed him more raw if I had recipes. Anyone have any budget friendly food advice?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 12:23:13 GMT -5
Never give up hope, your boy could live 2-3+ years more and be a bouncing joy with proper medicine, a lot of ferrets develop cancer and Adrenal, Insulinoma and Lymphoma are the 3 most common ones. My girl lived 1 yr 6 no with her BG never going above 40, she was on Pediapred for the first year and the last 6 mo on Pediapred and Diazoxide. My last girl had Adrenal, Insulinoma and Lynohoma at the same time, she lived almost 1 yr after being diagnosed with Adrenal, we caught the other two pretty late. Your boy needs to be on some medicine to control this, Pred is dirt cheap and for me a 2 month supply was $30. Even if your Vet doesn't feel confident, ask him to write you a prescription for it so you can try it. Frankenprey is the cheapest raw diet, I spend $40 per month feeding two 2.7 lb fatso certs that eat me out of my house, lol. You start out by making a raw soup and introducing it, most adult ferrets are stubborn and refuse it at first, there are methods we use to help them try it. Then with every batch of soup you make it thicker, once its at a pudding consistency you introduce very tiny slivers of meat, you slowly make the slivers bigger, then decrease the amount of soup and increase the amount of slivers, until they're off soup. You introduce bone in tiny pieces also, making the pieces bigger and bigger. Eventually they're on the frankenprey menu, which is 7-9 Bone-in Meals 3-4 Muscle Meals Half Liver & Half Other Organ Half Heart, 1/4 Liver and 1/4 Other Organ 1 Meal of Hearts At least one Red Meat meal A minimum of 3 different proteins Edible Bone-In Meat is the non-weight bearing bones of the animal the size of a chicken or smaller. Muscle Meat is any meat not containing bone, remember that Heart is a muscle and must be one of the muscle meals. "Other" organ is any organ that secretes, Kidney, Spleen, Pancreas, Brain, Thymus, etc. Here is a sample menu that you can fill out to help you learn - Monday AM: Half Heart - 1/4 Liver - 1/4 Other Organ Monday PM: Edible Bone-In Meal Tuesday AM: Muscle Meal Tuesday PM: Edible Bone-In Meal Wednesday AM: Muscle Meal Wednesday PM: Edible Bone-In Meal Thursday AM: Edible Bone-In Thursday PM: Half Liver - Half Other Organ Friday AM: Edible Bone-In Meal Friday PM: Muscle Meal Saturday AM: Edible Bone-In Meal Saturday PM: Edible Bone-In Sunday AM: Muscle Meal Sunday PM: Edible Bone-In Meal You can find organs, hearts, and meats like quail and such at most any Asian/Hispanic market. In the beginning of the switch we like to do one protein at a time, usually we do chicken because it's generally most easily taken, found and the cheapest meat. If you introduce too many proteins in a short period and your ferret has an allergy, you won't know which protein it is they are allergic to. Food allergies are usually detected from projectile vomiting and diarrhea, but they can be a bit subtle too and can be your ferret chewing, having runny/odd poos, etc, not very common but possible. It can seem overwhelming at first, but after a while becomes the norm. Don't hesitate to ask questions and get involved, we are here to help and to learn.  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 12:27:41 GMT -5
And also, if you have ferretone, ferretvite, any "ferret treats" and such, throw them out, ferretone has BHA in it which is cancer causing, ferretvite is filled with sugar and we call this Insulinoma in a Tube, and don't use the Nutrical anymore, that will help the Insulinoma progress, the only time to use anything sugary is Karo syrup or honey to bring them out of a seizure. Giving him this when he's just kinda tired will bring his BG up for a little bit, but then it will come crashing down and make the disease worse. Make sure he is eating every 2-3 hours to help keep his BG stable. Coconut oil contains no sugar and won't do anything for his BG, but you can give it as a treat, its 1/2 tsp every 3 days for any oil, Salmon oil is a fuzzy favorite.  |
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Post by MamaWeasel on Dec 23, 2014 12:51:41 GMT -5
Thank you so much for the advice, you have helped immensely. I will hope for the best! Gidget is a fighter, we'll see how this goes. I again, really, really appreciate it.
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Post by MamaWeasel on Dec 23, 2014 12:54:06 GMT -5
Oh, and yeah, we threw the ferretone out months and months ago. That crap is terrible for them.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 13:18:23 GMT -5
You're more than welcome  See if you can speak with your Vet today (over the phone) about getting him a prescription of Prednisolone, the sooner he gets on it the better. I forgot to give you the soup recipe, here it is- 8 oz chicken thigh 1 oz chicken liver 1 oz chicken hearts 1/2 tsp eggshell powder You can get boneless, skinless chicken thighs at any grocery store, and Walmart should carry chicken hearts, they're Tyson brand and they're in a pack with gizzards, "Chicken gizzards and Heart", though if you're lucky you'll get 4 or more, usually it's less and 2-3 chicken hearts is 1 oz so you'd have to buy a couple probably. Chicken livers you can get at most grocery stores too, it's also Tyson. Eggshell powder you make yourself, you take some eggshells and let them dry, then grind them up into a powder in a blender or coffee grinder. Or you can buy/order bonemeal powder, same ratio. Most Vets don't know much about nutrition and most of them don't agree with raw either, my Vet gave me "the lecture", most Vets do. Just a heads up. Do you have any questions? |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 13:22:21 GMT -5
Oh, and you can google Asian/Hispanic markets in your area, you can find hearts, liver and other organ cheaper there and they carry more. If you have trouble finding a place, @poncesmom is our shopping expert and she may be able to help you find some places if you PM her your area, once your request to join is accepted (should be shortly).
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Post by MamaWeasel on Dec 23, 2014 13:25:36 GMT -5
Thanks, he's actually not opposed to feeding raw, which I know it can be hard to find a vet like that. I do have a question regarding his playtimes. Since his lifespan is shortened, I want it to be as fulfilling as possible for him, but I worry with his low blood sugar it may cause him to crash harder. Any thoughts?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 13:36:39 GMT -5
It's awesome he isn't against it, that's a plus! I'm guessing he isn't very ferret-knowledgeable though, if he's seen many ferrets he would have known to start Pred and Deslorelin or Lupron. Adrenal will cause lethargy amongst other things, so that will contribute to him being tired. His lifespan isn't shortened really, if he lives another 1-2 years (which most definitely can happen!) that will be the normal lifespan of a Marshall's ferret, which is 5-7 years. I understand wanting to make the rest of their life as happy as possible though, playing won't hurt his BG, just make sure he is eating every 2-3 hours and doesn't get any sugary treats at all. When you start raw, you will notice a change, he will become more energetic, be playing more and will be more alert. His BG may rise within 7-10 days if you feed him every 3-4 hours. Since he isn't on meds yet he HAS to eat often, this is vitally important. The sooner you can start him on the soup, the better. But with a BG of 40 or lower that's dangerous, and requires meds ASAP. After 1-2 weeks usually you notice a coat change, their fur gets softer and most gain weight. This is the 2 month change of my boy-  Only thing we did different is take him off kibble and put him on raw. |
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Post by MamaWeasel on Dec 23, 2014 13:59:47 GMT -5
He also has developed a habit of humping his favorite toy, should I let him do this or will it worsen anything? I've also heard they require a certain number of dark hours, since they are burrowing, nocturnal by nature.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 14:06:23 GMT -5
That's a symptom of Adrenal, it won't worsen anything. Ferrets aren't nocturnal, they're crepuscular. They'll adjust to your schedule of when you can let them out. It's thought that artificial lighting can contribute to the development of Adrenal disease, so it's best to turn the lights off when it's getting dark out, and on when it's getting light out, to mimic the natural lighting sequences.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 17:21:07 GMT -5
Hi and Welcome to the HFF  I'm sorry to hear that your little fellow has both Adrenal and Insulinoma. I saw you mentioned Gidget, is that his name? I found the Forum looking for help for my little fellow Ponce. We have so many experienced ferrents and they can be such a big help. My little guy was almost seven and we lost him to Lymphoma. I stayed on though and have learned alot. Now, I have five little ones, all close in age and happily healthy. The best thing you can do for him is to learn what you can about Adrenal and Insulinoma. You will want to be his health advocate and know the questions to ask your vet, during visits. Keep a journal and learn the symptoms of his BG getting low. Staring into space or hind leg weakness will alert you. If he crashes or has a seizure, you can use a little karo syrup to bring him out of it. Only use it for this purpose. As you know, the key with Insulinoma is keeping his BG stable. Do you have a meter, can you test his BG at home? I don't have any experience with Adrenal, but there are many ferrents on the forum, who do and will be happy to share advice. Don't hesitate to ask questions. We're also here to share stories of the fun times, we love pictures, we talk about litter box and poop issues and there is a section for all things Non Ferret. Good luck with your little guy and I hope to see you around the forum. (dance) |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 17:23:04 GMT -5
Oh, and you can google Asian/Hispanic markets in your area, you can find hearts, liver and other organ cheaper there and they carry more. If you have trouble finding a place, @poncesmom is our shopping expert and she may be able to help you find some places if you PM her your area, once your request to join is accepted (should be shortly). I will be happy to help you find Asian Markets in your area. If you want to, PM me your area or general area and I will do some searching for you. |
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