From: Lynn McIntosh [faiml@uswest.net] Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2000 9:49 PM To: FAIMLanon; FAIML Cc: faiml Subject: FAIML #378; Jan. 22, 2000 Ferret Adrenal/Insulinoma Mailing List (FAIML) #378; Jan. 22, 2000 The FERRET ADRENAL/INSULINOMA MAILING LIST (FAIML) is a group that's come together to share support and information about adrenal and insulinoma diseases. FAIML comes out in digest format three to six times per week, depending on the number of posts sent, and their surgency. FAIML information is the opinion, only, of subscribers, mostly ferret caretakers. It is not medical advice, comes with no guarantee of accuracy, and is not meant to replace the examination and medical oversight of a qualified veterinarian. If your ferret is sick or exhibiting signs of illness take your fur kid to the most ferret- experienced vet you can find! A ferret- experienced vet is one of the most important services you can provide to your ferret. TO POST: Write POST at the end of your subject heading (the more specific you can be in your subject heading, the better) and send to . URGENT POSTS: If you feel the message is urgent please mark it POST URGENT and I'll send it out to subscribers as soon as I can, then include the message in the next list. CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS: Please write POST ANONYMOUS after your subject heading if you don't want your address or last name published. SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE: Just use the one address for posts, subscription questions, requests, cancellations, comments, etc. The list is run by hand so just send me an email. ADRENAL/INSULINOMA WEBSITE: FAIML ARCHIVES/PHOTOS: Past FAIMLs are being archived, with a search feature, on Michael Janke's adrenal/insulinoma web site: . Michael is also kindly posting pictures of FAIML subscribers and the ferrets at this site in the FAIML Album. Check out his site for more info. PAM GREENE's FERRET FAQs: I suggest people read (and reread) Pamela Greene's Disease FAQ's on Insulin and Adrenal diseases, as they offer a good background. I forward them to all new subscribers, and will gladly send them upon request. I also send the "Disease Package", a file that tells how to get all six of Pamela Greene's FAQs on ferret diseases. Pam also has excellent FAQ's about general ferret care as well, and a link to these may be found on the FERRET CENTRAL web site: . THE FERRET MAILING LIST (FML): The FML has 3,000+ ferret-loving subscribers and the topic is simply ferrets, ferrets, and more ferrets. Moderated by Mr. Bill Gruber, it's a great source of ferret entertainment and information. Visit FERRET CENTRAL on the web (see paragraph above) for more info on the FML. To subscribe to the FML, send email to its moderator, Bill Gruber, at and ask to be added. You can also try subscribing automatically by sending email to with the command SUBSCRIBE FERRET in the body of the email. 1. Update on Nibble (Ferret Vet in Nashville) please 2. weasel update 3. Update on Scooter My Little Dude-r 4. Solo, Lucky Charm 5. Solo and Lymphoma 6. Lymphoma 1. Update on Nibble (Ferret Vet in Nashville) please From: Cathy.Pardue@cnalife.com Date sent: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 09:43:14 -0600 Thank you to everyone who responded to my message. I got several referrals and all are appreciated. Nibble and I went to visit a new vet on Saturday, she does have adrenal problems. The new vet for anyone who wants to know is Dr Joyce Clarke at Volunteer Vet in Hendersonville, TN. She did a blood test on Saturday and it came back good, her glucose is actually a little high, so she thinks we are clear of insulinoma. The blood clotted before she could do the CBC for lymphoma, but everything else looked normal, so we are having surgery on Tuesday, January 25th. Dr Clarke is going to check everything out while she's in there, take more blood for the CBC and remove the lump under her nipple. She is going to have the lump checked out by a pathologist. That still makes me a little nervous, but at least we are getting somewhere now. Anyway, thanks to everyone who expressed concern and offered advice and referrals. It's good to know people care and are available to help. 2. weasel update From: "Holly Domanick" Date sent: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 17:11:09 EST Hi Everyone, I just wanted to let everyone know it's been 4 1/2 weeks since weasel's right adrenal surgery. She had a vet appointment today. The blood work came back great. She is full of energy and eats and drinks good. She will be taking .1 cc pedipred for another week then everyother day. I have been mixing her meds with nutrical. I have 3 of these fuzzy angels. They have been passing colds back and forth for a few weeks. They finished the rest of their bactrim today. Now for my concern. Weasel is developing lumps of fat (?) in her neck above both shoulderblades. They feel like squishy lumps not hard. The vet felt them today and said they just feel like fat. Is this normal? She has gained 9 oz. over the past two months. She really needed to gain the weight. She only weighed 1 lb. 5 oz. before. I have been feeding her the chicken gravy mix to put the weight on her for the surgery. Could the lumps be from the extra she has been eating? They all have been getting the nutrical mixed with the medes. Is that too much nutrical? My male also has a little bit of the fat lumps;but not as much. The vet said to keep a close eye on her and if it gets bigger or doesn't go away in two months she will do a needle biopsie(sp?). After what she went through in Dec. I get really nervous about her. Thanks for letting me get this off my chest and for this list. Eileen, Weasel, Rascal,R.J. 3. Update on Scooter My Little Dude-r Date sent: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 10:31:36 -0600 From: "Mary Rogers" I am sooo happy to report that Scooter's results came back no cancer, Yahoo! for the spleen and the right adrenal. He gets his stitches out Friday. He's doing really great, he's walking better (rear-end was a little wobbly after surgery). He's eating and pooping a bunch. He wants out of his cage really bad (rearranging the furniture, grin). I've let him out for a supervised short period of time so far. I just had to share my good news especially since Wheeler's passing. I've thanked you all personally but want you to know that it really helps that other care! Thanks, Mary and The 14 Munchkins 4. Solo, Lucky Charm From: "Karen Purcell, DVM" Date sent: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 14:30:38 +0000 Julie, >SNIP> > > If Anyone has any idea what might be going on here, please help. I suspected > Canine distemper, at first, then possibly lymphoma? Could this just be an > influenza? His former cagemates are all healthy. We just cannot seem to > pull this little boy out of this. -Tuesday it will be two weeks. > Sure sounds like a bad respiratory infection - may be the flu changing to pneumonia. Certainly the stress of surgery is going to extend recovery. So far, your treatment sounds pretty thorough. Do you have a humidifier or vaporizer going in the room with him? This will help his breathing. Linda, > her right adrenalectomy. I do not know if she would be a candidate for Lupron > while she is on Florinef. Do others here have experience with using these two > medications? Or is there another way to identify lymphoma? SNIP> Have you done a lymph node biopsy? That can be pretty definitive. Actually, enlarged abdominal lymph nodes will show up on ultrasound. > My vet does not want to give her Tumil-K because her electrolyte counts are > normal (at least for the time being) and she's concerned that increasing her > potassium levels would kill her. > Quite possibly. > Meanwhile, my vet and another vet at CSU are strongly advising against giving > her any vaccines, both of which are due this month. They're afraid her immune > system isn't strong enough. I have since found an Internet reference stating > that Florinef increases the likelihood of having a reaction to a vaccine. > Yup. > Still, I am a little concerned about not giving Lucky Charm a distemper > vaccine. She likes to go on short hikes and it seems cruel to make her stay > indoors. Plus I worry about potential exposure to distemper on any random > surface at the veterinary clinic. Lucky Charm is about 5 years old and has > never had a reaction to her vaccines before (Fervac-D and Imrab). > It's not the reaction so much that her immune system may not respond to the vaccine. So, you would be risking a reaction and the vaccine may not actually give her any immunity. -Dr. Karen drkaren@world.std.com 5. Solo and Lymphoma From: Anonymous Date sent: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 00:27:24 EST My heart goes out to Julie and Solo, I hear a lot of people with furies with Lymphoma, and my boy Poncho was diagnosed with Lymphoma, and I Didn't want to do the predizone or more severe approach, so I have had him on the Timmy's tonic and other good stuff and he has been doing good for over a year now. You would never know he was sick, but I just had to write that there are other means of treatment out there My prayers go out to all and their little Fuzzies, Timmys Story can be found on ferret centrals web page . JJ 6. Lymphoma From: "teri ronayne" Date sent: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 13:11:38 PST My little guy had chemo for lymphoma then about 7 months later was looking a bit motheaten and lethargic so he had a six week course of echaneacia (sp) and also lyprinol (the mussel extrract that humans use to shrink tumors)which was prescribed to him by a homeopathic vet. That was in August 1999 and he is still fat and fluffy. I thoroughly recommend taking both the chemo and the homeopathic solutions! Teri and the Spoekster. ----------------------- End of FAIML #378 -------------------------