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Post by lyles on May 15, 2021 9:23:15 GMT -5
I took Alice to the vet yesterday, I suspected for awhile she might have low blood sugar as she only gets up to eat and go to the bathroom. Non-fasting bloodsugar came back at 47. Instead of administering Prednisolone to her she instead told me to give her 1cc of raw honey 2-3 times a day. Her reason why she didn't want to prescribe Prednisolone was that it has side effects that have a greater impact on older animals. Take it she is not an exotic specialist and is the only vet within driving distance that was willing to see my ferrets. Now I don't recommend this to anyone who has a vet nearby that can prescribe and is not sure what they are doing, but I purchased Prednisolone from a Canadian pharmacy. The dose range is .5-2mg per 1kg of weight, 2x a day. 1kg = 2.5lbs which is Alice's weight. When I receive it I'll start her on the lowest dose (cutting and weighing for correct dose before crushing and mixing with salmon oil) and observe her to see the results. So far she hasn't had any seizures and has been able to eat and go to the bathroom on her own and if her condition worsens I'll have to contact her to see if other options are available  |
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Post by unclejoe on May 15, 2021 15:16:52 GMT -5
Well, pred helps to slow the progress of the tumors, I believe, And we have had ferrets on it for over 2 years, including our only 10 year old and 2 8 year olds. Honey does nothing for the disease, and could possibly even cause a crash. How old is Alice?
Are there any other vets near you? I have separate vets for kats and ferrets.
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Post by lyles on May 15, 2021 18:13:29 GMT -5
Sadly, I don't. There are many vets were I live but she is the only one that would even see ferrets. I'll stop giving her honey for now, but it'll take a couple of weeks before the medicine arrives. She is 7 years 2 months.
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Post by unclejoe on May 15, 2021 18:24:27 GMT -5
I wish I had some I could send you. We always used compounded liquid and it's only good for a couple months. Keep the honey handy for emergencies.
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Post by Charlie on May 16, 2021 11:35:01 GMT -5
That is such a shame that no other vets will see your ferrets. If you do all the research and take info to your vet, there may be a possibility that she will research more or consult with someone who does know more. I hope your vet can keep an open mind.
I had done that with my vet with rats. I always did all the research and she would check on it and then do what was best. She kept an open mind and even consulted with someone who had way more knowledge on the topic. She is still my vet for me ferret. She does know some stuff on small animals so at least I have here here in cases of emergencies. My ferret also has another vet who prescribes the DES implant for me. This vet is a couple hours away.
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Post by unclejoe on May 16, 2021 19:15:24 GMT -5
That is such a shame that no other vets will see your ferrets. If you do all the research and take info to your vet, there may be a possibility that she will research more or consult with someone who does know more. I hope your vet can keep an open mind. I had done that with my vet with rats. I always did all the research and she would check on it and then do what was best. She kept an open mind and even consulted with someone who had way more knowledge on the topic. She is still my vet for me ferret. She does know some stuff on small animals so at least I have here here in cases of emergencies. My ferret also has another vet who prescribes the DES implant for me. This vet is a couple hours away. I've done it too with my ferret vets. Some of them just don't see many ferrets so their experience is limited, and a little encouragement might get them to do some more research. Honestly, I would be less concerned with long-term effects in an older ferret because 8 years old is pushing it anyway, and quality of life should come first, as well as reducing risk of glucose crash and seizures which could be fatal. Prednisolone is not as rough on them as prednisone. |
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Post by lyles on May 25, 2021 9:35:45 GMT -5
Alice was in good spirits today. It's been awhile since I seen her in a playful mood but she even played with aron for a little bit before he started getting too rough with her and had to move her away.
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Post by unclejoe on May 25, 2021 19:12:00 GMT -5
OMG she is absolutely adorable  |
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Post by lyles on May 25, 2021 20:52:16 GMT -5
If only Sean was this sweet  (see new thread). |
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on May 26, 2021 2:55:03 GMT -5
What a darling!
She reminds me of my Phoebe.
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Post by lyles on Jun 12, 2021 8:34:10 GMT -5
Today is the 2nd day since I started her on pred. She is much warmer to the touch and a little more active. Today she followed me around in the morning like she used to. cutting the small pills is tricky but I'm guessing she's getting around .75mg in the mornings and evenings. I bought a tiny pedestal and mortar just for her medicine and grinding into a powder is easy. I then mix it with a little salmon oil in a medicine cup and pull it into a tiny oral syringe. She blah blahs a little but manages to drink it all without forcing her.
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Post by unclejoe on Jun 13, 2021 16:53:57 GMT -5
I think you are in the ballpark on dosage, as well as administering technique. You can adjust if you are able to monitor BG levels. Even with compounding with poultry flavor we had to cajole our furry pts to take it. It wasn't a struggle, just had to master the technique. We had 3 ferrets on pred at once, and over the years, since about 2011, we've pretty much always had a fert on pred with maybe a couple 6-10 month breaks. but we've had 30, and most of them avoided insulinoma.
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Post by lyles on Jul 11, 2021 21:00:14 GMT -5
Today was a bad day for Alice.
Very weak this evening, cold to the touch, heart was beating hard and fast, pale mouth and ears, wants to try moving a little bit every few minutes (I've seen this before).
I was able to give her medicine and rubbed some honey on her gums. Will be keeping an eye on her.
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Post by Corvidophile on Jul 12, 2021 5:11:02 GMT -5
Sorry to hear, I hope she perks up.
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Jul 12, 2021 5:25:28 GMT -5
Gosh, that is sad. I hope she gets to feeling better. Our hearts are so invested in our babies.
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