From: Lynn McIntosh [faiml@uswest.net] Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2000 12:00 AM To: FAIMLanon; FAIML Cc: faiml@uswest.net Subject: FAIML #468; Oct. 7, 2000 - urgent Ferret Adrenal/Insulinoma Mailing List (FAIML) #468; Oct. 7, 2000 There are five messages in today's list: Anemia - urgent Cryosurgery for Adrenal Gland Disease Reply: Jonesy Longevity of ferrets with Insulinoma Insulinoma kids & longevity FERRET ADRENAL/INSULINOMA MAILING LIST (FAIML) is a list featuring support and information about adrenal and insulinoma diseases. It comes out in digest format three to six times per week, depending on the urgency and number of posts. It is the opinion, only, of subscribers, and is not intended as 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 exhibiting signs of illness please take him or her to the most ferret-experienced vet you can. A ferret-experienced vet is one of the most important services you can provide for 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 and FAIML ARCHIVES/PHOTOS: For more info, check out Michael Janke's adrenal/insulinoma web site: . Past FAIMLs are archived there, with a search feature, and there is a FAIML album featuring pictures of FAIML subscribers and their ferrets. FERRET CENTRAL WEBSITE and PAM GREENE's FERRET FAQs: Ferret Central Website is the grand intersection of ferret websites, at . You can also find the Ferret FAQs there, which include invaluable FAQs on insulinoma and adrenal diseases. I forward these two FAQs 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. 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. Date: Sat, 07 Oct 2000 20:24:42 -0500 From: "Kelli Heady" Anemia - Urgent MODERATOR'S NOTE: Hi. Make sure to copy all replies to Kelli as well. Lynn Dear Lynn, I am posting this message so that someone might be able to offer advise & support. I have not posted for quite a while. I have a 3 year old male, lethargic, pale nose, ears and gums. Also weak hind legs, reels when he walks from time to time. Have been doing duck soup for quite some time now. Took him to the vet yesterday and she gave him sub q fluids and started antibiotics as our white count was sky high and red count is very low. The vet sent him home with me today because she knew I could care for him better at home than the weekend coverage at the clinic. Currenly our meds are prednisone, clavamox and I'm doing the duck soup and pedialyte every 2-3 hours to keep him hydrated. He is urinating and actually had a formed stool for me this p.m. Lab tests showed blood in the urine but no blood in the stool. Current plan is Oxyglobin coming in on Monday and we will give that a shot and see what happens if he makes it through the weekend. I have 3 male ferrets in good health, but my vet is not comfortable with a tranfusion. The nearest place is a 4 hour drive to K-State in Manhatten KS. and I do not think he would survive the trip. If anyone has suggestions, ideas etc. Please forward, I need the moral support right now more than anything. Thanks Kelli Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2000 13:48:09 EDT From: GRFerrets@aol.com Cryosurgery for Adrenal Gland Disease Hi, My vet is looking for "Peer Reviewed" data concerning the use of cryosurgery for adrenal gland tumors in ferrets. Can any of the vets on this list help with this kind of data?? If so, please eMail me with the info privately. Also, I need to hear from anyone with ferrets who have undergone cryosurgery for adrenal gland tumors and have had complications. Please respond privately. My vet has already seen much of Dr. Weiss's information, but she wants to see more than simply personal experience. She has also not seen info on complications - so this is what I need. (Please don't send info on how wonderfully your ferret faired unless there were complications that were resolved.) I'm asking for private responses so that I don't miss them in the FAIML. It might be helpful for this info to be posted to the FAIML as well, but please copy me privately. Thank you very, very much, Kim GRFerrets@aol.com Date: Wed, 04 Oct 2000 23:29:27 -0400 From: "Steve Fontneau" Reply: Jonesy reply to jonesy, i have had a problem with the proglycem too. i have to feed my ferret a serving of chicken gravy before the meds. also, maybe i didn`t make it clear before, but the amount of proglcem i have had to give is less than measurable, therefore, a drop. i found this out the hard way. maybe it is too strong for your ferret also. but without it, i know zoey wouldn`t make it.it is difficult and you have to watch it very closely the first few weeks.good luck. cindy and the furry trio, zoey, nueman and lucy Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2000 09:11:19 -0400 From: "Michael F. Janke" Longevity of ferrets with Insulinoma >From: "Dale Nupp" >Subject: Longevity > >> My question is, how long do ferrets live for on >> avergae once they've got that far advanced that >> they become unconscious? > > I read somewhere on the net that our fuzzies live, > on average, 465 days after being diagnosed with insulinoma. > That, of course, is an average. My vet tells me that he > has been treating three fuzzies for insulinoma for over > three years that had a documented age of five years when > they were diagnosed. Two years or more is not that unusual based on the results of ferrets with insulinoma that we had in our shelter. My Beasley has been doing pretty good for two and a half years since his initial diagnosis. I agree with Dale that the level of care has a lot to do with it. Beasley has never, ever missed a meal (I feed him a high protein meal four times a day) or his pred. One of us is never away from Beasley for more than four or five hours at a time. We can't go anywhere and we have no life, but that's a price we're willing to pay. For the ferrets, Mike * Michael F. Janke, mjanke@miamiferret.org * South Florida Ferret Help Line, 305-752-7040 * * Website: http://www.miamiferret.org * Adrenal/Insulinoma web site: http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2000 19:37:51 EDT From: FHbytheSea@aol.com Insulinoma kids & longevity The shelter currently has 3 insulinoma kids, who also happen to have adrenal gland disease. Well, we had a fourth adrenal ferret, but she died on Monday at just over 8 years of age :( For those tracking, Trella was bilateral and was diagnosed with adrenal disease almost 3 years ago. Lupron shots every 6-10 weeks kept her coat looking normal and her energy level high. Garrett - still hanging in there. My vet is personally amazed that he is still with us. Came into the shelter with insulinoma at 3.5 years old. Did surgery (partial pancreatotomy - vet removed a third of his pancreas) and he went about 72 hours without prednisone. Had a seizure on the third day - back on pred. Diagnosed with adrenals about 6 months later when his coat began to thin. In between this diagnosis, he had a couple trips to the docs - we found he has an enlarged heart. He is also allergic to isoflorane, and has asthma. Added proglycem at 0.1cc 2x a day back in February of this year (Garrett turned 5 in Jan. 2000). Garrett has had diagnosed insulinoma now for more than 2 years - and we have no idea how long he has left. He takes many medications - but still has quality of life -- he bebops around the house and finds a nice place to sleep. Garrett gets lupron shots, but not as often as the others....even though there has been no documented problems, we worry about drug interactions with him. (prednisone, proglycem, theophylline, furosemide, enacard) Emily - shes 8ish. Has bilateral surgery for adrenals (no more surgeries for Em - she scared the docs when the ligating clip came off!). She developed insulinoma about 1 year ago. We added proglycem when she had seizures even on prednisone. The Lupron shot has had limited success with her - she has not regrown hair. Bandit - he is 6 - came in 60% bald. Lupron shots brought back his hair, but it did take 2. He has insulinoma for at least a year (we started treating him for that first). Bandit is now on maintenance shots for lupron and only taking prednisone for his insulinoma. So far, my experiences with insulinoma are that with proper medications and food, they can go more than 2 years. Some longer than that -- and I think a big part of that is how palatable and stress free is medicine taking time. I try extremely hard to make medicine giving as stress free as possible. Bandit considers his medicines a treat - and begs at the bars for it. Garrett tolerates his very well. Emily isnt happy about it, but we disguise it in her treats. Lisa Leidig, Head Ferret The Ferret Haven "By-the-Sea" http: www.ferrethaven.org Want to help The Ferret Haven By-the-Sea? Register at iGive.com by cutting and pasting this link: http://www.iGive.com/html/ssi.cfm?CID=1236&MID=854 ----------------------- End of FAIML #468 -------------------------