Tilley-Probably PT-RIP Sweet Baby

[mamarat]

You made my day!! So happy for you and your Tilley.

 

[Dazzle87]

You're so sweet, thank you.

 

[victoria]

Oh good! I'll be rooting for her and keeping an eye in her progress.

 

[Dazzle87]

Thank you. I will certainly keep this thread updated.

She said another vet at the clinic prescribed Cabergoline before, and it was $200 a month compounded for the ferret. Pricey, but I'm willing to pay it. She's calling around to find the cheapest place for me .

 

[Dazzle87]

New video, showing how wonderfully she is doing:

[BBvideo 425,350:vz9uh35m]http://s687.photobucket.com/albums/vv236/smesyna/PT/?action=view&current=tilley111211.mp4[/BBvideo:vz9uh35m]

I should get the cabergoline Monday (tomorrow) and be able to start it then .

 

[Dazzle87]

New video, showing how wonderfully she is doing:

[BBvideo 425,350:28vx85d6]http://s687.photobucket.com/albums/vv236/smesyna/PT/?action=view&current=tilley111211.mp4[/BBvideo:28vx85d6]

I should get the cabergoline Monday (tomorrow) and be able to start it then .

 

[hopefloats]

awww you needed more treats at the end LOL

 

[Dazzle87]

Haha yeah she wanted more! She did kinda snub me there at the end lol!

 

[Joanne]

She looks great!

 

[mamarat]

She looks amazing.

 

[M0onkist]

Definitely looking better!!

 

[Dazzle87]

Thanks. I know, I'm quite impressed! I was really hoping I'd see this kind of improvement.

 

[M0onkist]

Have you started her on the cabergoline yet? Or is that just the prednisone helping?

 

[Dazzle87]

That is just the pred. I should be starting her on the cabergoline tomorrow (it had to be ordered).

 

[M0onkist]

It'll definitely be interesting to see how she improves.

And I don't know if getting a MRI is required for a decent evaluation of the effect of cabergoline - talk to Shelagh about her trial with bromo, she measured quality of life and length of life. I realize it isn't 100% quantifiable, but at least qualifiable...

 

[Dazzle87]

Yeah you're right, this will still show whether or not it helps for Tilley.

I will talk to Shelagh about what she did with the bromo. That is truly what I care more about anyway, giving her more of a quality life, than shrinking a tumor (that's more incidental).

 

[victoria]

I was just reading about this and thought it may be of interest. Bromocriptine and Cabergoline (as well as Melatonin, but that can't be given with Pred) work on prolactin fed tumours and Lupron and Tamoxifen (the latter is pretty toxic) work on those fueled by estrogen. I have a female that is not fit for surgery but has a growing tumour right now and is getting Lupron (it's about $30/monthly injection for me) and I have not seen any ill effects- it's only been a week so i can't say if it's effective either. You may or may not want to try it with Tilley but it's another option to keep in mind with PTs.

 

[Dazzle87]

That's interesting I'm not very familiar with them I'll look into that. I hope it helps your girls tumor .

 

[Dazzle87]

There were issues getting the cabergoline (damn, it is apparently hard to find lol!) but just for those curious it ended up being 280 for two months worth of pills, or 140 a month. Unfortunately it is apparently difficult to compound and I was not going to try to get a bunch of liquid into her so it's just split the pill in half (.5mg pills), crush it, and mix it with baby cereal once every three days. For those curious, the dose is .6mg/kg for pituitary tumors.

There's not much to report, Tilley is doing quite well. I'm not sure that I'll take her off the prednisone completely but she is on the maximum dose right now so I'll gradually lower the dose at least a little and see how that goes anyway (under the guidance of my vet).

My only concern with Tilley right now is getting her weight back up, but I've stocked up on soft high cal yummies and tomorrow I'll start grinding up her lab blocks to be fed with ensure and/or rice milk. Her weight issue is compounded by her malocclusion. Over time, they have become further misaligned, as they started being maloccluded from a fall that broke a tooth to the gum about a year ago. I am dealing with that and she has a good appetite now so I'm hoping that she will gain weight quickly.

 

[fenshae]

I was just reading about this and thought it may be of interest. Bromocriptine and Cabergoline (as well as Melatonin, but that can't be given with Pred) work on prolactin fed tumours and Lupron and Tamoxifen (the latter is pretty toxic) work on those fueled by estrogen. I have a female that is not fit for surgery but has a growing tumour right now and is getting Lupron (it's about $30/monthly injection for me) and I have not seen any ill effects- it's only been a week so i can't say if it's effective either. You may or may not want to try it with Tilley but it's another option to keep in mind with PTs.

This is REALLY interesting...do they work on mammary tumors and such as well? I'm wondering if my vet might consider this as an option for any future ratties I get, if it's less risky than surgery....hmm.

And Tilley is looking so good now! Lookit her using those paws to eat!