Need some ferret vibes...

It may very well be nothing, but I think Dameon may have insulinoma...I've noticed here recently he's been really showing his age. Still playful and active, yes, but just slowing down. He'll be six in two months, so that is to be expected, especially after he got so sick over the summer and it took him so long to recuperate. His coat finally looks decent again, but he never did put weight on like he should have.

But, I also know that when Casey first started showing signs I thought it was just "old age"...so I'm paranoid. And he has the same look to him that Casey did.

Anyways, he woke up from his nap this evening because he heard me playing with Rinnie and he wanted his bedtime treat and to go to bed...and his hind legs were wobbling. He walked around a bit to go over to the litterbox and he just kept getting more wobbly. I got some Ferretvite in him for a sugar/calorie booster, to see if that'd help, then I caged him.

So, even though I have absolutely no money...I'll probably try to get him in for a blood/insulin test here soon. I might see if I can get him in tomorrow morning, or Friday.

So please send "let there be nothing wrong with my baby boy" vibes?

(((vibes)))

Poor ferrets, they always seem to get the short end of the stick. Vibes!

Vibes!

i actually have blood glucose tests for 2/3 tomorrow

Dameon joined in, too! lol

Took him in for the blood draw this morning, but they have to send it out so I won't get results until tomorrow or Saturday. Crossing my fingers that everything comes back in tip top shape. I'm really hoping I'm just being a worried mom. He had bloodwork done when he was ill over the summer and there wasn't anything largely abnormal about it (other than the fact that he was extremely ill which wonked out some of his values), so with any luck...

Well, not so good news.

His glucose levels were super, super low. So we are heading forward under the assumption that he does indeed have insulinoma.

Now. I read online that surgery provides prognosis than drug therapy. BUT, Dameon is already 5 years, 10 months old...even if surgery would give him a year, is it really necessary at this point? I think I had decided drug therapy was the way to go with Casey due to her age, but that obviously didn't work well with her since we couldn't get her stable on the Pred.

Also, I'm normally gone three nights/days a week at my boyfriend's place, so Dameon and Rinnie are going to have to be shuffled around with me. They have a FN142, but are currently only using half of it, so I figured I'd just take it apart and keep one section at my boyfriend's and the other half at my place so they can have their own cage in each place. I have a dog crate I'll just permanently set up in the back seat of my car for them, too, so they can travel with less stress than in the cat carrier. Will moving them back and forth like that cause too much stress on them? The cage and bedding in both places won't be new, so everything will be "from home", I just don't want bouncing back and forth to cause problems.

And, one last thing that I really don't want to be thinking of right now, but it needs to be addressed...I'm proceeding under the assumption that Rinnie is going to be outliving Dameon. I do know I will not be getting anymore ferrets for quite some time. I also think that Rinnie is not going to do well as a single ferret. I fully intend to try and see how she does and if she's just fine as a single she isn't going anywhere, but she really likes having a buddy. On the chance that she is going to turn into a depressed, mopey ferret when Dameon passes...would anyone on here with ferrets be willing to adopt her? If it's bad I could always return her to the rescue I adopted her from, but I don't think I could live with myself if I did that. I'd much rather her go to a fellow Chazzer home. The purpose of adopting Rinnie and Ruben both was that I'd have a better chance of not ending up with a single...but I wasn't quite expecting Ruben to go so suddenly and I was hoping Dameon would continue on his path of good health and live to be an anceint ferret.

Generally... I go under the assumption that I will not put a ferret through surgery if it can be controlled with meds. Obviously there are exceptions... like if a ferret under 2 became adrenal. That really is a personal preference, though -- when I take ferrets in here, they generally came from a not-so-good past, and I take them in promising them they will never have unnecessary pain, which, to me, includes the pain of surgery.

I would treat with both Pred and Melatonin -- but not liquid melatonin you get from the vets.. just get some pills for humans at walmart or wherever. It's like $5 for 15 pills here... which lasts me 6 months at least.

Moving them around shouldn't cause them stress as long as you are with them. I mean, I took Rascal to Allie's when he was a single quite often, and he has no ill effects.


Did she tell you what his blood sugar was?
My vet just called back and told me Rascal's was at 1.7 :yikes: So I guess just the food isn't working now, and he needs to be on meds We are starting with just Melatonin, though.

Here is his bloodwork information (I just snagged my file at work LOL); the abnormal values:
Albumin: 2.9 (regular 3.4-4.3)
Globulin: 2.7 (0.2-2.4)
Glucose: 49 (120-144)

He's also slightly anemic, and it said there were reactive lymphocytes present.

Monocytes: 14 (0-1)
Esinophil: 9 (0-1)

His bloodwork from October 2010 (abnormal values):
Albumin: 3.2
Globulin: 3.8
Glucose: 103

Casey had very similar values, only her Glucose level was actually higher than Dameon's by a few points (53, I think?). She did, however, have a super high WBC count, whereas Dameon's are in the normal range. Although I didn't test for insulin levels in Dameon (would have been an extra $$$), but when I tested Casey she had a very high level (mid hundred, I believe).

I doubt I'll have him surgerically treated. The article I read said that by the time the meds stop working, it is often too late for the surgery to be effective...but he's almost six years old, and I don't think it is worth putting him through surgery.