Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Ferret with seizures diagnosed with pseudohypoparathyroidism
By Wilson, G Heather et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2003·Department of Small Animal Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Suspected pseudohypoparathyroidism in a domestic ferret.
- Species:
- rodent
Plain-English summary
A 1.5-year-old ferret was brought in for seizures and was found to have low calcium and high phosphorus levels in its blood. After ruling out other possible causes, the vet diagnosed the ferret with pseudohypoparathyroidism, a rare condition that affects how the body responds to parathyroid hormone. The ferret improved after being treated with a vitamin D supplement and calcium carbonate, and it continued to do well for over three years with ongoing treatment.
People also search for: ferret seizures treatment · low calcium in ferret · pseudohypoparathyroidism in ferrets
Abstract
A 1.5-year-old ferret examined because of seizures was found to have low serum calcium, high serum phosphorus, and extremely high serum parathyroid hormone concentrations. Common causes of these abnormalities, including nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism, chronic renal secondary hyperparathyroidism, tumor lysis syndrome, and hypomagnesemia, were ruled out, and a tentative diagnosis of pseudohypoparathyroidism was made. Pseudohypoparathyroidism is a hereditary condition in people that, to our knowledge, has not been identified in ferrets previously and is caused by a lack of response to high serum parathyroid hormone concentrations, rather than a deficiency of this hormone. The ferret improved after treatment with dihydrotachysterol (a vitamin D analog) and calcium carbonate. It was still doing well after 3.5 years of continued treatment.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12710772/