My ferret is diabetic?

Question
Hi. I rescued my ferret about a year and a half ago. He was found wandering around in a neighborhood, eating cat food off of peoples' porches and no one would claim him. I had always wanted a ferret. There was nothing seriously wrong with him according to vet: no intestinal parasites or diseases, just being underweight and covered in fleas. My husband and I have become very attached to him but we could tell that he was an older ferret from the beginning. He has been on cat food; he's never eaten ferret food.

So anyway, he recently started losing weight kind of dramatically. He was at a very healthy weight before with lots of energy. He became weak and slowed down on eating. He's been drinking a lot though.

I took him to the vet and they said they might think his blood sugar was low. When they checked it, they were suprised to find that it was significantly elevated, (in the 400s when 100s is normal)! This she said this was symptoms of diabetes, but said she could really be sure if he had sugar and ketones in the urine, and sadly he did. She told me right away that ketones mean its in a critical stage and that she would recommend hospitalization but said it would for sure cost thousands of dollars and reminded me how old he is. Secondly, she suggested we try to manage his blood sugar at home, but says she doubts we will be able to do it because ketones are present and he really needs his blood sugar checked multiple times daily between injections.

The really tricky part is that she says that despite my being a veterinary assistant with knowledge of how to draw blood with cats and dogs, ferrets are very different and I will not be able to do this at home to check the blood sugar. With the insulin injections he is at risk for low blood sugar which could cause seizures, shock (and a whole list of terrible things). She wants me to give him insulin injections twice a day (morning and night).

Since I left the vet yesterday though, I have a gut feeling and disagree with her about the morning and night business, because she says he has to eat after injections to keep from getting low blood sugar and I know my baby better than anyone and he doesn't ever eat much during the day even when he is healthy. He is a night muncher. Also my schedule will not allow me to be here during the day to monitor him whereas at night I can. I would just be giving him the morning injection real quick and leaving shortly after. I think once a day should be enough and twice a day is too dramatic and I'll kill him. My other reasoning is that according to her he has had high blood sugar all this time, and we can see what it has done to him but it hasn't made him that sick yet. With this insulin I could make him very sick for sure I think. I think he definetly needs it but she didn't really ever give me a straight answer on why he needs it twice a day.

Option 3 is putting him to sleep. I will do this if he is suffering. None of this is good news and I cried on the way home yesterday. He has had one insulin injection and he is okay so far and is eating when he wasn't before. One more thing you should know: this vet is an emergency weekend vet. My regular vet hasn't seen him yet and won't be available for a couple of days. I pretty much trust her diagnosis and I guess the test results speak for themselves huh? This is hard to except though and my vet has disagreed with her before with a different animal, which makes me not so trusting of her diagnosis.I know this was long but I wanted you to have all the facts.

I think I know where this is headed though and its just very sad because like I said we are very attached to Alfredo. Please let me know what you think about the insulin dosage and second opinion, what you might know about diabetes in ferrets, and if you know any foods that will help him to gain weight. (the ketones make him nauseated and thats why we see the weight loss. She said he'll have that off and on. So when he does eat I want it to really count).

Thanks

Answer
HI Amanda and Alfredo:

I'm so very sorry Alfredo isn't doing well.  I've never heard of a ferret having diabetes.  LOW BLOOD SUGAR is very very common in ferrets. Pancreatitis or Insulinoma (most likely what you're dealing with I believe) are other common diseases in ferrets. I'm certainly not an expert on blood sugar problems with ferrets because I've never had a ferret with blood sugar problems. It has recently been discovered that blood sugar problems in ferrets can be completely avoided by NEVER giving ferrets sugar, by reading ALL labels and making sure they don't get anything that is sugary such as honey, molasses, or ANY ingredient that ends in "-ose" such as sucrose, lactose, etc....they are all sugars.  Most likely his lousy "wild days" of eating whatever folks fed him has been the reason he is so sick now.  Don't give up on him though - and yes, I would get that second opinion from the ferret knowledgeable vet - there is NO substitute for one. A 'regular' vet who sees cats and dogs literally has about three hours of "exotics" training in their whole veterinary college classes!! That includes turtles, birds, and other exotics including ferrets, so it's no wonder they don't know much about them.  A vet who specializes in exotics, however, is like finding gold!! The difference is night and day.

Putting him on a ferret specific diet such as Totally Ferret can make a huge difference in a short time also - just remember to make any food changes slowly and be sure he's eating if you change his food. Start with a little new food in the old, then keep adding more and more of the new food and less of the old until finally he's eating completely healthy foods with no sugar in them. The Totally Ferret "Baby Formula" kibble might be good for him for a short time, as it has 85% protein, which may give him some energy and healthy vitamins he no doubt can use after running loose so long.  Some Ferretone or Vivify would probably also be good for him, but no more than several tablespoons a week maximum. You can cut it half/half with virgin olive oil and he'll like it just as well and it will last longer (DON'T put it on his food, as it will cause the food to deteriorate; put it on a little dish, or let him lick it from your hand).

I will give you the vet lists so maybe you can find one in your area that specializes in ferrets. These vets have been recommended by other ferret owners and each list comes from a different source, so they may overlap, but there are different vets on the lists too, so be sure to check all for your specific area:

* http://www.quincyweb.net/quincy/vet.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/
* http://www.ferret-universe.com/vets/vetlist.asp
* http://www.ferretsanctuary.com/vets.shtml
* http://www.ferretcentral.org/for-others/db-vets.html
* http://ferrethealth.org/vets/

Here are some links for insulinoma - see if it fits Alfredo's symptoms....
INSULINOMA:
* Recognizing Insulinoma & emergency treatment:
* http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=11&cat=1286&articleid=550
* Insulinoma EMERGENCY TREATMENT:  http://miamiferret.org/fhc/insulinoma.htm
* Drug Treatments for Insulinoma: http://miamiferret.org/fhc/prednisone.htm
* Insulinoma FAQ @ Ferret Central:  http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/med/insulin.html
* IMPORTANT FOR INSULINOMA: CHECK BLOOD SUGAR: MONITOR GLUCOSE LEVELS:   
  http://www.unc.edu/~pjdutche/bloodsugar/

You CAN check blood sugar levels at home - people do it all the time.  Again, my best recommendation is to get to a vet who specializes in ferrets or "exotics". You'll be surprised - these little ones will hide their illness and seem fine until they are really really sick....conversely, they will turn around and go from death's door to a spunky little stinker in a very short time with proper treatment.  Please don't give up on him yet :-)

My thoughts and prayers will be with you and with Alfredo.  Please update me and let me know he's okay in a few days?  I think you'll see a huge difference with some changes. Give him lots of love - that's so critical in his welfare. He's so lucky to have been taken in while he still has a chance to get well.  I think he will surprise you.  I've brought more than one abandoned, sick at death's door ferret around to a healthy, spunky little ferret - hang tough and give him LOTS of love. Wrap him in a receiving blanket snugly and rock him if you have a rocking chair, sing to him - a sick ferret is just about equivalent to a sick baby, just treat the same and he'll be fine. Please update me - my prayers are with you and him..

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers