Insulinoma and Essiac Tea......

by Jen Johnson
(Ohio, USA)

Imp is my 6 year old Marshall Farms ferret who was diagnosed with insulinoma several months ago. I'm very familiar with insulinoma and not at all happy with the medications prescribed for it. I've lost 3 other ferrets to this dsiease and I'm determined to make Imp's life as happy as possible.

I was reading "The Healthy Pet Manual: A Guide to the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer" by Deborah Straw and it mentions ferrets. It also mentions Essiac tea as a possible treatment for any pet with cancer. I found some at my local health food store. I bought the box that included 3 packets of herbs that needed brewed to make the tea. They also offer pre-brewed tea as well. Here's the link to find out more:

http://www.floressencetea.com/

I've been giving Imp the tea late in the evenings and most times, he'll drink it on his own. I've tasted it and it's not awful. I've been able to decrease Imp's prednisolone from .2 cc twice per day to .15 twice per day. He does have a bit of a "pred belly", but he's very active for an old, insulinoma man. I've even had him play, though briefly, like a kit.

He's also on a high-protein diet including duck, chicken, rabbit and turkey. I buy it from Wysong already all ground up and in a can, so it's very easy to feed.

I believe that giving Essiac tea has helped Imp to be as normal as possible. I think it has helped to shrink the microscopic tumors in his pancreas so he can function more normally.