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Post by ashleyp616 on Jun 1, 2022 20:53:56 GMT -5
My furbaby was recently diagnosed with insulinoma. I've been giving prednisolone but still doesn't have much energy and doesn't "play" anymore. She will be 6 in a little over a month. About a week ago I started giving her beechnut chicken baby food as a treat, but the past few days she won't eat her kibble and hasn't drank her normal amount of water. Is she just being picky and stubborn? I've been giving her a mix of water, kibble, and chicken baby food 2-3 times a day. I've been researching transitioning her kibble out for freeze dried/air dried food and then eventually to raw. I've read you're supposed to gradualy introduce new foods in over an 8 day span. Now my concern is since she's not eating kibble, how do I transition her food and get her to go back to eating and drinking normal??
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Post by unclejoe on Jun 2, 2022 14:41:35 GMT -5
hello and welcome How long has she been getting the prednisolone (pred), and how was her appetite before? My first case of insulinoma was discovered in a ferret I had "rescued" only 2 weeks before because I noticed he suddenly stopped eating and had lost weight. If you just started the pred, it may take a couple days but no more to see increase in appetite. It wouldn't hurt to try just giving raw now. Some ferrets go for it right away. I started by grinding kibble and mixing with water and ground turkey or chicken and never had any ferts reject it on the first taste.
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Post by ashleyp616 on Jun 3, 2022 23:11:44 GMT -5
She started taking 0.1ml pred once a day on April 20th. Her last vet appointment was May 26th and I was told to double her dose so she's taking 0.2ml once a day. She had an okay appetite, eating kibble a few times throughout the day. She's only been fed kibble up until the vet appointment on the 26th. I know ferrets with insulinoma need to have food at all times, but as of about 2 weeks ago when I started giving her the baby food she just won't eat kibble anymore unless it's soaked in water or covered in the baby food. Which makes me very nervous and worried when I'm at work and not able to watch her. Am I being overly worried?? The kibble I've been giving her for the past 3 months is Kaytee fortified ferret food (chicken) I bought her new food and it just came in today. I got another bag of the Katee(kibble), wysong epigen 90(kibble), ziwi peak-chicken(air dried raw) and also stella and chewys chick chick chicken(freeze dried raw). I set all 3 of the Kaytee, wysong, and ziwi peak out for her around 3:30pm today and also made up some of the stella and chewys. I had to be back at work and when I came home at 10pm she hasn't touched any of it. I know it's early and I need to keep trying to get her to eat it, but I'm just a very worried and nervous mom right now. Also there is no vet around me that sees ferrets, other than 4-5 hours away. I got lucky with my local vet hospital that has an exotic vet come up from Florida about once a month( I live in Illinois.) My vet has recommended that I give her little sugar snacks throughout the day-licking a lollipop, honey candies, etc. But everything I've read and researched goes against that. So I want to try to "fix" this through diet. Any thoughts/recommendations/advice is very welcomed!! Also sorry for the novel! Thanks in advance!!!
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Post by unclejoe on Jun 4, 2022 7:58:55 GMT -5
in Every other case of insulinoma i've read about and experienced the pred is given at 12 hour intervals, not once daily.
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Post by ashleyp616 on Jun 4, 2022 13:19:46 GMT -5
I made an emergency vet appointment this morning with my local vet. They said her urine is diluted, but other than that not sure what is going on. Sent me home with an antibiotic(clindamycin) and I also asked about changing the pred routine. She told me she would consult with the vet(Florida vet) that increased the dose a few weeks ago and will most likely get ahold of me today or tomorrow.
Is it bad to change the pred routine times??
The Florida vet had me doing it once daily only to work with my work schedule being unstable because through the week I either work 9:30am-4pm, 3pm-11pm, or sometimes 9:30am-11pm. If I need to do it every 12 hours I will just have to work something out with my employer, but that would mean I would have to change her pred times completely.
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Post by unclejoe on Jun 5, 2022 11:59:16 GMT -5
It doesn't really matter what time of day, and a few hours either side of 12 hour intervals is ok as well. I just wonder if the effects are diminished or gone after almost a day between doses.
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Post by ashleyp616 on Jun 5, 2022 21:27:36 GMT -5
Okay thank you!! Also, back to the food questions. Are the brands I've mentioned before good for her? And for going on 3 weeks now I've been having to mix her crushed up food in with the chicken baby food to get her to eat. Is constantly feeding her the baby food okay to do??
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