On Friday, I came across an article about the cancer-fighting properties of papaya leaf extract which had been confirmed by researchers. The thing that pricked up my ears was the fact that this supplement was good for shrinking tumours in the pancreas and liver, amongst other organs.

So, first thing on Saturday I went galloping to the health food store and got a bottle of papaya (or paw paw, as it’s called here) leaf extract to give to Kahlua.

Another ferret owner asked me that question and rather than just reply to her, I thought I’d put the answer up as a post.

To be honest it’s difficult for me to say categorically that yes, it does work.  I got it when Muis was diagnosed with insulinoma and I gave it to her every day.  One thing I can say with certainty is that it seemed to help her because she used to wander around the house quite happily, she’d come and see me in the study when I was working and always wanted to be lifted up onto my lap, and if we went out, she’d be at the front door to welcome us home when we came back.

Has anyone tried this supplement on their ferret?

Why I ask is because I ordered another bottle of Transfer Factor Plus from my supplier and I mentioned Kahlua’s strange symptoms.

When I got the TFPlus, I found a sheet of  Legalon milk thistle capsules which they’d very kindly put in for Kahlua to try, to see if that would help her condition.

They even googled if ferrets could have it and told me they’d seen several websites which talked about ferrets having this supplement.  What wonderful people!

Kahlua’s initial dose of Pred was for 0.5ml once a day but after she continued to get her low blood sugar drop (LBSD) sessions while on it, I decided I should increase it to 0.5ml twice a day, like Muis had.

I took her to see my vet just to make sure she agreed with my decision and, would you believe, Kahlua had another LBSD episode while we were there.  My vet gave her a couple of smears of Nutrigel and within minutes Kahlua came good.

It was a week ago today and I really thought I was going to lose Kahlua!

I was taking her to see the vet in the afternoon so around mid-morning, I went to get her as I’d prepared the smoothy for her to drink. She was lying under the cover of the hammock and when I pulled it back, I saw her doing the same as she did on Christmas Eve. She had her lips back in a grimace and was breathing rapidly and it was very shallow.