Cheeba loves to scare his mommy

Well, Cheeba went back on ulcer medication. Improved for about 4 days, then started to go downhill really fast for no apparent reason. I rushed him to the vet last Thursday expecting to hear something like "I'm sorry, but he has advanced lymphoma and there's nothing you can do". Instead I hear "Cheeba is diabetic - he has a BG level of 492, and he's ketoacidotic. He very well may not make it". Next sound was my jaw hitting the floor.

We're unsure as to why he went from being insulinomic to being diabetic. He may just be very sensitive to the pred, or it could be a rare side effect of his adrenal disease. Diabetes is very rare in ferrets. Most ferrets that go diabetic have just had surgery for insulinoma, and most cases are temporary. We're unsure yet as to whether or not Cheeba's is permanent. I'm leaning towards yes, and I think if I can get him through this initial crisis, it's going to be a yo-yo back and forth between low BG and high BG the rest of his life.

Which brings me to the "getting him through this" part. He is getting insulin injections twice a day, sub-q fluids once a day, antibiotics twice a day to prevent secondary infections, and we're still treating the ulcers I took him in for initially! I test his BG twice a day before giving him his insulin injections, and his urine three times a day for ketones. Ketoacidosis is when the body doesn't recognize that the blood is already full of glucose, so it starts breaking down body tissue to release more, which results in ketones showing up in the urine. When a diabetic is also ketoacidotic, he or she is a very sick diabetic. When I took Cheeba in last Thursday, his ketones were at 4+. They are now at trace, but have not gone to a negative reading yet. If I can get him stabilized to the point where the ketones are no longer showing in his urine, then I can start focusing on long term care.

So if you think of it, please keep Cheeba in your thoughts and prayers. It's great that he's still with us - I didn't expect him to make it through the weekend - but he's not out of the woods yet. He really could go at any time, which in a way makes my time with him right now all the more precious.

Be strong Cheeba!

Tags

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ferret, ferrets, Diabetes, Ketoacidosis, Insulin