Should I take my ferret to insulinoma surgery?

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kkristens
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Should I take my ferret to insulinoma surgery? - Monday, October 20, 2014 10:52 PM
hi~
I have a male ferret name Hero,he is 6 years old,
he was diagnosed adrenal disease about one year half ago,our Vet suggested that he uses Nupron as treatment. so far he's been doing great. 
I took him to Vet yesterday to get bloodtest and ultrasound scan for medical examination. the blood-test shows that his bloodsuger is lower than average a lot in the 49'! and the ultrasound scan shows that his right-side adrenal got tumor,too(it was only left-side with the tumor).and some part of tumor might spread to lymphatic system,the vet uses the ultrasound scan his lymphatic and found something strange shadow in it.
I asked the Vet if Hero need a adrenal surgery?he said no,because the tumor already spread...
I'm not sure if thats ok,of course I get it,the adrenal surgery is pretty risky,he might not be able to pass the surgery safety...I would like to know what you think.


My other concerned is should I take him to insulinoma surgery?
My vet suggested NO as well,the reason is the problem will still come back after half or a year,is that true? but the article I read online says it would better 2-3 years.


please help,I'm desperate.


btw:I'm in Taiwan,not many Vet knows ferret well.Our Vet did performance few ferret surgery before.


thanks so much. 

unclejoe
Re:Should I take my ferret to insulinoma surgery? - Tuesday, October 21, 2014 8:54 AM
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kkristens
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Re:Should I take my ferret to insulinoma surgery? - Tuesday, October 21, 2014 11:51 PM

I saw this on http://feline-nutrition.org/features/26-transitioning-your-cat
"I recommend avoiding raw meat based diets for cats that are on immunosuppressive medications 

like chemotherapy drugs, or higher doses of cortisone-type drugs like prednisolone "

Is that mean that i can't  feed my ferret with raw diet,too?



Snapper13
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Re:Should I take my ferret to insulinoma surgery? - Wednesday, October 22, 2014 7:05 AM
My ferrets are fed primarily a raw diet.  It's commercial raw (Stella and Chewy's, ZiwiPeak, Real Meat, Vital Essentials, etc), but we have found that they live a longer, healthier lives with this diet.  This is regardless of whether or not they have insulinoma or not.  In fact, we had to help our Sadie to the bridge - and she had insulinoma for at least 4 years.  

weaz1
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Re:Should I take my ferret to insulinoma surgery? - Thursday, November 06, 2014 7:55 PM
I know I'm going to get attacked for saying this but it is far worth it. I have had many ferrets in my life and my last two fuzzies had insulinoma. Sadly, even with often vet visits, the cancer/tumors attacked way to quickly to leave any hope. Now years later me and my wife have found ourselves in the same place with our 6 year old weasel Bug. The insulinoma was just the same in aggressiveness so we knew just putting her on Prednisone was a death sentence. FYI, Prednisone is currently under investigation for causing pancreas cancers and liver/pancreas damage, and dysfunction. We found a different hope in an odd place, CBD oil/cannabis oil. NO its NOT getting her high! Less then 1% THC. She was already having troubles walking without falling and not eating worth a flip. Once we gave the oil she spent a couple of days sleeping heavily and getting up to eat between. Eating by the 2nd day picked up tremendously. Now only 4 weeks in, dosing oil 2 times a day for the first two weeks and 4 times a day after, she is exploring, playing with her sister, and climbing like her old self! She still has a crash to the point of minor weakness when she plays for 30 mins or more but nothing major like before. The first two weeks we didn't see much of this but now its slowly picked up to being a nightly thing. Now the only times she gets shaky or wobbly is after pushing it in a play session with her sis. I'm not going to say she's headed to a cure, but what I can say is we have achieved far better success then pumping her full of a med that will loose its effectiveness and slowly help to kill her. Search pancreas and cannabinoids, read the research studies, and I wish you much luck with your fuzzie. FYI, I'm feeding Wysong foods, I mix all the foods they make into a mess and they love it. Its on par with feeding Raw and much much safer. Do your research if you decide to give CBD a try; you don't want China made CBD due to the chemicals they leave in. American made only!
<message edited by weaz1 on Friday, November 07, 2014 12:02 AM>

ordinarygirl
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Re:Should I take my ferret to insulinoma surgery? - Friday, November 14, 2014 4:19 PM
weaz1 - did your vet prescribe it and if not, how did you get it?
Momma to
Joseph Francis Tribiani aka Joey Came to his forever home 9/26/2011
Daxter Chandler Muriel Bing aka Daxy Came to his forever home 7/30/2014

Waiting at the Bridge:
Gabby, Rylee, Maya, Roxy Heart, Goofy and Tig

weaz1
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Re:Should I take my ferret to insulinoma surgery? - Saturday, November 15, 2014 1:22 AM
So it looks like she has both insulinoma and adrenal. We want her to have a shot at survival so we are opting for surgery. Update on the CBDs- We had to go back slowly to prednisone because of the nature of CBDs. While still providing the reduced pain, anti-nausea/increased appetite, and cancer fight(beta cell death), the body starts reducing the number of Cannabinoid receptors it has in operation. If insulinomas are not caught way early then the amount of time is reduced greatly and will not allow for a CBD treatment aimed at a cure. Instead you would be providing the ferret with a Vary humane last few days/weeks and sometimes months. What we are aiming for now is to increase the amount of time she has to allow for a full treatment, 6 months to a year. No. Unfortunately a vet would most likely loose their license for recommending anything that is debated so hotly. From what I know, no one has tried this before. A vet in California is now prescribing CBD with great success in fighting Cancer and Tumors. From what I hear Vets in States like Colorado and Washington are starting to do the same. CBD oil is not illegal in the US granted that your not trying to buy any with a substantial THC value. I'm looking to the future with these moves. I will keep this post updated. As of now a ferret with Insulinoma is going to die surgery or not. It just turns into a time game. If we get 6 months to a year then I honestly think we can beat this thing. And if we don't, then I will have my vet do a autopsy to see if there were any changes to the tumors in the short time she had left. Beta Cells DO DIE with CBD treatments. Its vary confirmed via MANY studies from around the world and the US. I will private message anyone who wants to look into it or try CBD oils from a good American source but do not want people ragging on the kindness of others that supply "taboo" treatments legal or not.

weaz1
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Re:Should I take my ferret to insulinoma surgery? - Saturday, November 15, 2014 1:29 AM
That's amazing! 4 years! Any certain brand or type they took to quicker? My ferrets will not try anything new that I can't leave out for a good bit. From what I have seen all the fresh meats on the market have tons of carbs in them. They have carrots, oats, and other veggies that are not good for the fuzzier.
<message edited by weaz1 on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 4:29 PM>

weaz1
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Re:Should I take my ferret to insulinoma surgery? - Tuesday, November 18, 2014 4:52 PM
In Austin, TX the Doctors are saying much different. They have loads of experience with both adrenal and insulinomas and say ferrets fare vary well with the (insulinoma) surgery. Only one case did not survive due to complications, and that's to be expected in a full open up operation. Most cases are said to survive 2 years; one symptom free and one on meds. He also agreed with what I have seen in the past; unless found early (symptom free) insulinoma victims don't last vary long on meds alone; ~6 months on a good run. Now my ferrets are not caged, they have about 500 sq' of roaming space during the day and 1500 sq' of stomping grounds at night so the way they burn the food off with show differently vs a cage ferret. Point being operation is a good bet if you can find a well versed Dr. What other choice will they have? I'm really really hoping these CBDs will become a excellent way of preventing most insulinoma cases to treated ferrets in the near future. Just like with Government, its the people who make the changes not the people in power!

weaz1
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Re:Should I take my ferret to insulinoma surgery? - Thursday, December 04, 2014 7:04 PM
Added info. Glucose checks have shown to be stable and slightly better after a month of treatments. I'm no professional but I have been told this never happens and is odd for Insulinoma.