my ferret was recently diagnosed with Insulinoma, i have to give her Prednisolone twice a day. i give her baby food directly before and directly after the meds, so she won;t get ulcers. someone said i should mix it in with the food, is it all right the way i am currently doing it? i'm not sure she'll eat the food if meds are mixed in. any help, preferably from people who's ferrets have insulinoma would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
2006-11-19 19:23:02 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
I've had many Ferrets my whole life and have three right now. With Ferret owners,(all meaning well and wanting to help) you will get way too many answers to your question to the point where your question will get lost in all the answers so...Let me share this with you, If you have the time to give your Ferret her medication the way your doing it now, keep it this way and I tell you why...Mainly, you'll know that she is getting her meds and how much. A full bowl of food left in the cage is the proper way to keep food in your ferrets cage. Is she eating it?, is she spilling some of it? see my point? If your feeding her a Duck soup recipe, you will be dumping it out and freshening the bowl anyway, thus throwing out some of the meds as well. If all else fails, go back to the old saying...if it's not broke, don't fix it. Hope this helps you and good luck with your fuzzie :)
2006-11-20 00:11:14 · answer #1 · answered by dhwilson58 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have had many ferrets with Insulinoma who have lived to 10-12 years old. This is very old for a ferret and Insulinomic ferrets can live many years with proper care.
I always use duck soup for feedings. If you need a recipe, do a search on google and you will find some. You can mix the Prednisilone with the duck soup and this typically makes it very easy to get the meds in the ferret as Prednisilone does not taste good to most ferrets. The soup also gives the needed protein to keep the blood sugar levels stabilized. I usually freeze the duck soup into ice cube size portions using ice cube trays when I make a batch. This is the amount a ferret usually has no problem eating and therefor the ferret gets all of the meds. Usually ferrets love the soup and lick the bowl clean. I always hold my ferrets while they eat soup to make sure the other ferrets do not eat the soup and also to keep them on task of finishing the soup.
Ferrets metabolize food every 4 hours. Don't be surprised if as the disease progresses you have to increase the feedings and frequency of Pred. To understand what is happening with your Insulinomic ferret, I offer the following.
You already know that ferrets sleep alot. The blood sugar drops and the ferret gets even sleepier. The additional sleepiness resulting from the drop in blood glucose (BG) makes the ferret sleep through necessary feeding times and creates a downward spiral. The ferret does not eat because the BG is dropping and it is sleeping deeply. The BG continues to drop because the ferret does not wake to eat. Make sense?
I would be happy to answer any more questions you have.
2006-11-21 02:30:26 · answer #2 · answered by donrull 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
A great answer, coherently stated, listen to the man. DHWILSON makes a lot of sense.
The way you are administering the meds will allow you more control over the medication. You know what she's getting and when she's getting it.
If this is working for you keep it up. You are doing a great job.
And you are absolutely right, your ferret may stop eating the food with the meds in it and then what have you gained? Another problem to worry about.
Keep up the good work and I hope your ferret will do well.
2006-11-20 01:45:08 · answer #3 · answered by Huh? 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I found that the easiest way, is whatever your ferret will tolerate. It's fine the way you are doing it. Seems like it's ok with her.
2006-11-20 10:09:17 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋