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Post by gfountain on Dec 23, 2014 23:27:33 GMT -5
You said he eats once a day. Does that mean you fill his dish with fresh food once a day and he eats throughout the day or he actually only EATS once a day? That could be a contributing factor in his low BG. The key to stabilizing BG is eating small meals several times a day, in conjunction with the right medications.
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Post by MamaWeasel on Dec 24, 2014 21:10:25 GMT -5
I don't have a meter, poncesmom, but i will get one. should i get it from the drugstore or does it have to be a veterinarian's ? thank you for your empathy. yeah, he's Gidget. He got some Prednisone today, I gave him 1/4 of a 10 mg pill, the vet said to give him half, but I'm not so sure we should give him that much at first, since the medication wears off effectiveness the more you use it. His appetite has gradually decreased, we are grinding up his kibble and mixing it with coconut oil and he will eat some off our fingers, not much. I am worried when we are gone at work he will crash and have a seizure, mostly. But any advice on how to make his food exciting again would be great. So absolutely no Nutrical? Would honey be better than karo? I know people use it to stabilize blood sugar levels. I don't want to make anything worse for him.
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Post by MamaWeasel on Dec 24, 2014 21:14:43 GMT -5
@ gfountain: He only eats once a day on his own. Since we realized the seriousness of his fasting, we are constantly coaxing him to eat, and he has responded fairly well with the powdered kibble that I have. I am going to switch to a raw diet ASAP, when finances will allow. We fill his bowl with fresh food once every other day, now that he is not eating well. I realize now that seems negligent.
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Post by MamaWeasel on Dec 24, 2014 21:16:28 GMT -5
On a side note. If there is anything I can do to help his constant scratching and rubbing, I would feel loads better. It's mostly when he is in the cage that he scratches till he's pink.
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Post by Desiree on Dec 24, 2014 23:17:58 GMT -5
A regular glucose monitor from walgreens is fine. They sell one with 10 test strips for ten dollars. I have a insulinomic ferret, Rebel, and I can tell that predinisolone has helped my baby so much. She has so much more energy and acts like a much younger ferret. She is about 6 years old. I also adore raw. Rebel would only eat a few pieces of kibble when I first got her and now she devours her raw! I also have a ferret with adrenal. I am having the same issue with him always being so itchy. Right now I am just waiting for the Des implant to be available. He has gotten his lupron shot but it isn't as effective. Nutrical is definitely a no no. Honey and Karo is to get your ferrets blood sugar up when they crash, not a daily routine. Karo, I think, is better but I'm not sure. The best way to stabilize the blood sugar, is a high protein low carb (or no carb diet) mixed with medication. If your ferret crashes, rub some Karo on there gums until they seem alert and active again and then feed them a high protein meal. Neither of these diseases are death sentences for your little one. With proper treatment and a little tlc, Gidget should have a few more years with you.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2014 23:55:12 GMT -5
I use a True2Go from Walgreens, $10 and 10 test strips. It will be off a couple points, because you have to have it calibrated with your Vets to be correct, but it shouldn't be any more than 7-10 points off, some are spot on and some are just 1-2 points off.
Prednisone Pills really aren't very good, it's hard to get the dose accurate and easy to under or overdose. Can you call your Vet and ask if they can prescribe some liquid prednisolone or pediapred? It's dirt cheap (like $30 for 2-3 mo) and all it takes is a phone call and a trip to the pharmacy, and it's more accurate with dosing and safer for them.
Give him the dose your Vet said to give, it's probably the smallest dose for his weight, they start at a small dose and under dosing isn't good for him. I don't know how tablet dosing works because I've always used liquid, I really suggest getting them to call some in, it took me 3 min on the phone, just called and said I needed to speak with my Vet, he would come to the phone then or call me back later, and I would tell him I needed a new prescription, or I would simply leave him a message for the Vet assistants to give him. Then when I needed a refill, you just call the pharmacy and they call them for you.
No absolutely no Nutrical, ever. That stuff will in fact make his insulinoma worse. The only time you should ever use karo (karo works better than honey yes) is when he is having a seizure, not when his BG is low, just when he is in an obvious seizing state, because it's not good for him, and the more you give it to him, the less it will work, so if you give it to him when his BG is just low, when he is having a seizure it won't work as good and that's really not the time for it to not take affect. When his BG seems low, feed him immediately.
He really, really needs to every every 3-4 hours, this is more important than you could imagine, with borderline insulinoma it can even be controlled with just frequent feedings (when BG is in like 72-85+, lower than 70 and it needs medication usually). Raw will be your best friend in this, it really will help.
He probably isn't eating a lot because his tummy may hurt. Ulcers and Nausea are common in Insulinomic ferrets, not eating will make it worse. This is very important- make sure he eats BEFORE taking his Pred, this medicine is strong and most of the time will cause Ulcers, peptic ulcers can be mild or really bad, but they are nonetheless painful, trust me I've had ulcers and a ferret with ulcers from Pred. Feeding 30-45 minutes before giving meds will coat the stomach. Ulcer treatment is usually Carafate, which is like pepto but for animals (pepto bismol is NOT to be used for animals, as a note).
The ingredients for the soup shouldn't be more than $20, the sooner you can get him on it the better. Buying in bulk will be the best money saver, when I first started I bought little bits every 2-3 days, and it cost me $200 per month. I started buying in bulk to last 2-3 weeks, and it dropped to $30-$40 per month (what I was paying for kibble). And this is with 2 ferrets that eat more than the average fuzz, like almost double, so it's like 4 ferrets lol.
Itchiness isn't very uncommon, ferrets are scratchy animals, mine wake up several times in the middle of the night scratching like crazy, but if you feel he is scratching abnormally a lot, you can give him an oatmeal bath (NO soap, will make it worse, it strips their skin of the oils), and their is the Reishei mushroom that seems to work pretty good, but it can make their BG lower so unless your ferrets insu is stable, it shouldn't be used.... ferrets with Adrenal scratch a lot, does he have hair loss anywhere, or thinning hair?
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MamaWeaselakaGidget'smom
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Post by MamaWeaselakaGidget'smom on Dec 25, 2014 10:03:16 GMT -5
@julesalot: he does have some thinning hair. you can see his tail and underbelly. the backs of his shoulders are very pale, and he's black with a white undercoat.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2014 15:02:55 GMT -5
Watch him for symptoms of Adrenal Disease, my Insulinomic girl had hair loss, but loss on the tail, belly and shoulderblades can indicate Adrenal.
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Post by Heather on Dec 25, 2014 16:46:15 GMT -5
The symptoms that you are describing along with the itchies would point to adrenal. ciao
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2014 14:23:19 GMT -5
Deslorelin is going to be roughly how much? he is on prednisoline now and we are feeding him raw.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2014 14:58:52 GMT -5
Deslorelin is on backorder and currently unavailable, call your Vet ask them about Lupron,if they dont carry it they can order it in. Lupron is a monthly injection and works well, personally i recommend Deslorelin as Des is every 6 mo,is half price yearly, and works as good if not better,but Lupron is good to get it under control or until Des is back.
Des price widely depends on where you live and your supplier. Can range from $100-$350. Generally being $200-$250. Lupron ranges from $40-$120 depending on supplier and dose, starting out it will be less. Des is every 6 mo, Lupron is every 4-6 weeks. I would get him a Lupron injection as soon as you can.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2015 8:18:15 GMT -5
Alright, so he has eaten his raw food and loved it every three hours for the last three days, I made sure. He doesn't seem to be pooping, which is very concerning. his back legs are stiff and he's having trouble getting around his ladders in his cage. How do I help him poop? He tries, but there's just tiny tiny bits, and I know he has eaten a whole lot more.
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Post by unclejoe on Jan 1, 2015 10:54:13 GMT -5
try to get some vaseline in him every couple hours. Does his belly feel hard or feel like it has a hard lump in it? That could be a blockage and that is serious.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2015 11:33:53 GMT -5
A blockage probably would have killed him in 3 days, but if he is pooping little bits it would be a partial blockage. Still serious, I would start blockage protocol, get some plain canned pumpkin and plain white Vaseline and start-
1st Hour: 1tbs Pumpkin 2nd Hour: 1tsp Vaseline 3rd Hour: 1tbsp Pumpkin 4th Hour: 1tsp Vaseline
And continue this until you see a nice big orange poop. If at any time he vomits or crashes take him to the vet immediately, if he doesn't poop within about 6 hr of doing protocol take him to the vet. You can feed him if he will eat, nothing with bone, no bone at all until he is back to normal. Can feed a muscle meal or organ. You can give him 1/2 tsp salmon, coconut or extra virgin olive oil to help move things along.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2015 16:09:13 GMT -5
THANK YOU SO MUCH . I'm trying to not give up on him, but he is very dramatic. I wonder where he gets it from. Should I force feed him the pumpkin bc he doesn't want it.
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