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Post by Charlie on Jan 5, 2023 18:36:41 GMT -5
I've read a number of threads on here about insulinoma and and very confused about the readings. I took my ferret in to the vet to be checked as he hasn't been eating as well and was pawing at his mouth a few times (not always) and has lost weight. I thought he had some signs of insulinoma. She did the BG about 2-3 hours after eating and it was 6.8 and then I took him back 4 hours after that (fasted) and it was 8.2.
I was reading numbers on here in the 70's, 80's and 90's, etc. My vet said those are what they use in the States. So I don't know what is good and what isn't. I'm in Canada.
How do your vets get blood from the ferret for blood work? Do they sedate them? Do they get it from the jugular or the leg? Any info about your experiences with blood work please.
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Post by okojosan on Jan 6, 2023 1:27:56 GMT -5
My vet has pricked the tail and collected the blood that way. They can do a quick, mostly accurate test almost immediately. (Using some sort of strips? Don't quote me on that.) You might want your vet to do a full bloodtest, looking for lymphocytes as well. Bad appetite, losing weight, nausea can be a sign of lymphoma too. I hope your little guy feels better soon!
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Post by Corvidophile on Jan 6, 2023 7:49:13 GMT -5
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Post by unclejoe on Jan 6, 2023 12:10:01 GMT -5
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Post by Charlie on Jan 6, 2023 18:33:43 GMT -5
My vet has pricked the tail and collected the blood that way. They can do a quick, mostly accurate test almost immediately. (Using some sort of strips? Don't quote me on that.) You might want your vet to do a full bloodtest, looking for lymphocytes as well. Bad appetite, losing weight, nausea can be a sign of lymphoma too. I hope your little guy feels better soon! Yeah, I know they prick the tail to get blood for the BG but how does your vet get full blood work from your ferret? Do they sedate them?
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Post by Charlie on Jan 6, 2023 18:36:52 GMT -5
Ok this was helpful because most of the people posting on here are from the states and the articles that are posted are usually from the states as well. What are acceptable numbers for ferrets?
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Post by Charlie on Jan 6, 2023 18:46:11 GMT -5
This is good even though I may not understand all of it but the info is good for my vet. She will understand this.
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Post by Charlie on Jan 6, 2023 18:55:13 GMT -5
My vet seems to think it may be with the spleen. She said she could feel something there. She was a little reluctant to do the blood work because she seemed to not feel comfortable to draw blood to do a full work up. I may have to take him to my vet that gives him his DES implant. Yes, my ferret has 2 vets. The other vet is 2.5 hours away.
So it most likely may be some type of cancer. I didn't know that some of the symptoms for insulinoma are similar to other cancers, etc. So not sure what I'm dealing with here.
Waiting to hear back from the vet that's 2.5 hours away.
Do vets give prednisone to ferrets with other cancers as well or is that just for insulinoma? What have some of your vets done?
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Post by Corvidophile on Jan 6, 2023 19:06:35 GMT -5
I hope it’s something as simple to treat as insulinoma, lymphoma sucks. A ferret should ideally be between 80 and 130 mg/dl I think, but according to Uncle Joe’s stats page, it says the acceptable range is 65-164. Using the converter, that’s 3.6-9.1 mmol/l.
My vet went for the jugular fully awake. He also implanted Suprelorin fully awake. (and lost an implant to being tossed from the wriggling Winnipeg down the sink, so I can see why someone might want to sedate.)
Pred is common for many cancer therapies and is considered a form of chemotherapy. The dosage is different for different uses.
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Post by unclejoe on Jan 6, 2023 22:06:19 GMT -5
I've personally done melatonin implants fully awake. I've also done microchips in kats and it's unbelievable how much tougher ferret skin is, but they do ok. The des implant is just so big that some vets prefer sedation and might apply a dab of dermabond over the wound.
If you read the notes at the bottom of the chart, BG can vary greatly over a few hours. Some vets consider readings below 60 mg/dL to be diagnostic of insulinoma, but I would go by the recommendations in the chart. Get at least one fasting (4 hrs) and if it's low I would get another at another time. Pred is cheap, but dosing a ferret isn't a lot of fun, and it will need to be done BID probably for life, so it's best to confirm before you go there
The signs you describe, tho, are classic insulinoma. Hoping for the best
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Post by Charlie on Jan 6, 2023 23:31:18 GMT -5
I hope it’s something as simple to treat as insulinoma, lymphoma sucks. A ferret should ideally be between 80 and 130 mg/dl I think, but according to Uncle Joe’s stats page, it says the acceptable range is 65-164. Using the converter, that’s 3.6-9.1 mmol/l. My vet went for the jugular fully awake. He also implanted Suprelorin fully awake. (and lost an implant to being tossed from the wriggling Winnipeg down the sink, so I can see why someone might want to sedate.) Pred is common for many cancer therapies and is considered a form of chemotherapy. The dosage is different for different uses. Insulinoma is a bunch of little tumours or a big one of the pancreas so it’s not good either. Charlie’s reading were in the acceptable range so it must be something else. Yeah when Charlie gets his DES implant he’s fully awake and the skin is really tough to get it in. The vet glues the injection site after. He’s had 3 already. Im going to have to travel 2.5 hours to get blood work done probably. I emailed my vet too so I’m hoping she will be willing to do the blood work so I don’t have to travel. I honestly don’t want to travel every few weeks to get medication for him. They are never available when I’m not working and if I have to keep missing work then I won’t be able to make money to pay the vet bills. Lol
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Post by Charlie on Jan 6, 2023 23:50:54 GMT -5
I've personally done melatonin implants fully awake. I've also done microchips in kats and it's unbelievable how much tougher ferret skin is, but they do ok. The des implant is just so big that some vets prefer sedation and might apply a dab of dermabond over the wound. If you read the notes at the bottom of the chart, BG can vary greatly over a few hours. Some vets consider readings below 60 mg/dL to be diagnostic of insulinoma, but I would go by the recommendations in the chart. Get at least one fasting (4 hrs) and if it's low I would get another at another time. Pred is cheap, but dosing a ferret isn't a lot of fun, and it will need to be done BID probably for life, so it's best to confirm before you go there The signs you describe, tho, are classic insulinoma. Hoping for the best Yeah the vet that does Charlie’s implant does it fully awake then glues the injection site. They put a little bit of numbing agent on the area and it doesn’t phase him much with salmon oil to distract him. Charlie’s blood was taken about 2 or 3 hours after he had eaten and it was ok compared to the charts and again 4 hours after his first test it was even higher so it seemed good. I’m ok with giving him meds for the rest of his life. How much medication does the vet give you before you have to go back and get more? I don’t want to have to drive 2.5 hours every couple weeks to get meds. I hope my local vet helps me out on this. He had some symptoms back in August but I thought he had teeth issues because he wouldn’t always eat his food. And then I thought he was being picky too. At 5 he’s considered a senior so it’s logical that he would sleep more but recently he has been sleep bumping more. It occurred to me that those were signs of insulinoma just before I went in to the vet, but the BG test didn’t suggest that. I’ll have to get blood work done. I’m just waiting to hear from the vets with their replies to move forward with a plan.
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Post by unclejoe on Jan 7, 2023 20:41:43 GMT -5
We usually got a 30 day supply. You can get prednisolone compounded with various flavors so it might be better accepted, but it will depend on your ferret. If you have to go that route, try poultry flavor first. Make sure any meds do not contain any alcohol. Your vet should be able to call your scrip into your local pharmacy, to your local vet or a compounding pharmacy closer to you if yours can't do compounding. Have all of that info available when you get blood work done.
I have had a couple ferrets that lived over 2 years on pred with only insulinoma.
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Post by Charlie on Jan 8, 2023 1:03:40 GMT -5
We usually got a 30 day supply. You can get prednisolone compounded with various flavors so it might be better accepted, but it will depend on your ferret. If you have to go that route, try poultry flavor first. Make sure any meds do not contain any alcohol. Your vet should be able to call your scrip into your local pharmacy, to your local vet or a compounding pharmacy closer to you if yours can't do compounding. Have all of that info available when you get blood work done. I have had a couple ferrets that lived over 2 years on pred with only insulinoma. Thanks for the info unclejoe. Charlie isn’t a fan of chicken. I hope there is beef flavour. Lol I got an appointment for Wednesday. That’s fast considering it took a week and a half to get into the vet here in my city.
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Post by unclejoe on Jan 8, 2023 20:05:23 GMT -5
there should be a beef flavor. Even poultry flavor wasn't appreciated by mine, lol. The only other flavor I tried was bubblegum, because that's what the pharmacy made up the first time when I didn't know there were flavor options. Oh, well. Good luck.
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