Insulinoma - vet said take him off of prednisone??

[brittany]

Yesterday my ferret was put on Predisolone for insulinoma at an emergency vet (he had all of the symptoms, including seizure, and his blood sugar was at 41). Today, I'm at work, and my girlfriend has taken him to an exotic pet vet (I recently moved to this area so it's a new vet).

This vet seems to be very familiar with ferrets and has told us to stop giving him prednisone for his insulinoma! She said that instead, we should treat him with regulated feeding of his kibble, chicken baby food, and brewer's yeast. I've never read about this type of treatment for insulinoma and she seems very set on it. I have never had a ferret with insulinoma so I do not know what to do!

She also said that insulinoma often comes hand in hand with adrenal disease, and recommended having him tested for that. I've read that the adrenal test isn't 100% accurate and gives false positives/negatives. Is this test worth the high price?

I want to do everything necessary, it's just scary not knowing for sure who is right as far as treatment goes. Any advice would be great.

[brittany]

I also found this info from a link in K10Widow's post:

"...give them a protein snack such as strained meat baby food or their softened normal food. The protein keeps the glucose from jumping up and down.

It is also helpful to keep food always available and to add a supplement of Brewers Yeast to the diet. You can buy brewers yeast and garlic tablets for pets at health food stores or from you vet if they carry it. Or you can just buy plain Brewer's Yeast in a powder or tablet. Use 1/8 tsp of the powder twice a day, or 1/4 of a human tablet or 1/2 of a pet tablet twice daily. Brewers yeast contains chromium which is the glucose tolerance factor which helps to regulate insulin and glucose levels. These dietary suggestions will not CURE the pet, nor stop the cancer from growing, but they may alleviate some of the signs and prolong the amount of time the pet is off other medication."

Can insulinoma be managed without prednisone?

[judy]

I had one ferret with insulinoma and she was on prednisone. Her's was pretty advanced by the time she was diagnosed too. I imagine if a ferret is borderlline, it can be controlled with diet - and its a good idea to try to keep their levels under control with diet even if they are on prednisone too as that could possibly make a lower dose of pred more effective. The less pred, obviously, the better. But... I would think that if a ferret is showing symptoms, especially seizures, then prednisone is absolutely necessary. Unless you can dedicate your life to being with the ferret all the time and making sure he eats at regular intervals, its impossible to control his disease any other way.

I also have heard that adrenal goes hand in hand with insulinoma, but I'm not sure that's always true. Tamma developed an "idiopathic" adrenal disease, caused by the medication after a period of time. I don't know if that's usual and maybe someone with more knowledge than I have will see this post and help you out with that.

Please keep us posted on how your little guy is doing.

[Barbara]

I haven't had to deal with that dx yet but I have heard about yeast from some other people. As far as meds, it's always better to treat with diet as long as it works.

[goingpostal]

You can control mild insulinoma with regular feedings, but eventually they will crash and need to be on pred. I would rather medicate and keep it controlled than risk a crash personally and pred helps them feel better as well, an insulinomic ferret doesn't feel well, they don't eat, they crash. Adrenal is just extremely common in ferrets, as is insulinoma, doesn't make them connected and most adrenal ferrets show clear obvious signs, no need to run the Tenn Panel when it's not 100% accurate and you could just spend that money on meds instead. You should get a home blood glucose meter so you can check her BG regularly and up the dosage as needed.

[Katiebug]

I've never heard of treating insulinoma on diet alone. All the vets I've ever talked to do prednisone or surgery. And that's pretty much it. I personally wouldn't risk it if it was me. Lilly just got diagnosed with insulinoma too and I'm not trusting just the duck soup to take care of her. But that's me.