Feline hepatic lipidosis (FHL), also known as “feline fatty liver syndrome” is one of the most common forms of liver disease identified in cats. Hepatic lipidosis is defined as, “A well-recognized syndrome in cats, characterized by excessive accumulation of fat (triglyceride) in the liver” (Côté, 2007, p. 506). This disease is unique to cats and is not commonly found in other domesticated animals.
As was previously stated, this disease particularly affects cats. While cats of all breeds and of any age are potentially at risk, middle-aged, obese cats are most susceptible to this disease. Commonly hepatic lipidosis is caused when an overweight cat becomes anorexic due to a variety of reasons and this results in large fat deposits into the liver. This condition can be triggered when a cat has inappetance due to a stressful situation, such as, boarding, introducing a new pet, change in their living environment and so on. It can also be caused by another disease, such as, pancreatitis, diabetes, cancer, and others, or there could be no known cause of this condition making it idiopathic. It is only appropriate to classify FHL as idiopathic if there is no underlying disease, condition, or event that took place leading to inappetence.
The liver’s main functions include producing chemicals necessary for digestion, protein synthesis, and detoxification of the body. The liver also aids in metabolism and emulsification of fats, producing necessary coagulation factors, and decomposing erythrocytes. Given these points, the liver plays an important role in the body and it is difficult to compensate for it’s functions when the liver deteriorates.
When a feline’s body is undernourished or starved, in this case because of inappetance, the...
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...t of the food on the cats paw so that the cat will lick it or one could try hand feeding. The feeding tube should not be removed until the cat is eating on its own for at least one week.
Works Cited
American Animal Hospital Association. (2014). Feline hepatic lipidosis. Retrieved from http://www.healthypet.com/PetCare/CatCareArticle.aspx?title=Feline_Hepatic_Lipidosis
Center, S. (2012, March). Feline hepatic lipidosis. Retrieved from http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/digestive_system/hepatic_disease_in_small_animals/feline_hepatic_lipidosis.html
Côté, E. (2007). Clinical veterinary advisor. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby Elsevier.
Ettinger, S. J., & Feldman, E. C. (2010). Textbook of veterinary internal medicine: Diseases of the dog and the cat. St. Louis, Mo: Elsevier Saunders.
Summers, A. (2007). Common diseases of companion animals. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby.
...h apparently did not prevent transmission of T. equigenitalis (Erdman et al., 2011). With the exception of one, all other stallions were infected with T. equigenitalis indirectly via handling or contaminated fomites at breeding or collection facilities (Erdman et al., 2011). According to Erdman et al. (2011), this outbreak saw the largest number of horses that tested positive for the disease since the first outbreak in 1978. The source of the outbreak was most likely determined to be a stallion imported from Denmark in 2000 that had not been detected positive for T. equigenitalis neither upon pre-import testing in the country of origin nor quarantine testing in the United States (Erdman et al., 2011). The importation of this stallion in the United States subsequently led to subsequent transmission of infection between the years 2004 and 2009 (Erdman et al., 2011).
•The forty five year old patient is diagnosed with the progressive cirrhosis inflaming the liver along with the parenchymal cells. The plain symptoms is manifested primarily because of the augmentation of edema internally in the lower abdomen.
Norkus, Christopher L. Veterinary Technician’s Manual for Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care. Chichester, West Sussex. UK: Ames. Iowa: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.
Most animals are susceptible to the development of cancer at some stage of their life. Among all types of cancer, squamous cell carcinoma is one of the skin cancer that commonly affects domestic animals. Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma is a type of cancer caused by neoplasms arising from the squamous epithelium of an animal regardless of species. However, this essay will only focus on this condition among felines since my chosen species is a white cat called Rosie. There are several forms of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma among felines, which are known as solar keratosis and multicentric squamous cell carcinoma in situ, sometimes known as Bowen’s-like disease, but in this case, Rosie is diagnosed with
Dogs infected with Canine Heartworm Disease can have from 1 to 250 worms living in them for 5 to 7 years. The organs us...
In order for this breakdown to happen, the ‘tube’ through which the food travels requires assistance from a number of other digestive organs starting with the salivary glands, and later receiving
Canine Heartworm Disease -. 01 Jan. 2014. Web. The Web. The Web.
My liver basically turned to fat. It was so filled with fat the doctors said it was like pate; it was reaching a toxic level, putting me at risk of having non-alcoholics type of hepatitis, hardening of the liver, cirrhosis of the liver. It got really frightening for awhile. And the impact it had on my sex life was also another aspect my girlfriend didn 't appreciate.” [Spurlock]
Liver cancer is a common form of cancer that affects approximately 30,650 new individuals each year (1). The most common form of liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is more predominate in men over women. Along with gender, age also is a large role in the probability of getting HCC. Generally, most of the individuals that are diagnosed with liver cancer are 45 and older, with an average age of 63 (1). Another nonmodifiable factors that can lead to HCC is ethnicity. The risk of having liver cancer greatly increases if you are from the Pacific Islands or are an Asian American (2). Some common behavioral risk factors that can increase an individual’s change of getting HCC are alcohol consumption, type 2 diabetes, chronic viral hepatitis, and obesity (1). While all of these factors can lead to liver cancer, obesity has become more popular recently with an increase in the amount of overweight individuals. In the last decade alone, over one billion people worldwide are estimated to be overweight (5). In the research articles used, BMI was the common tool to determine if an individual was overweight or obese.
Liver is a vital organ and performs several roles; produce proteins that help the blood to clot and removing body wastes; regulates the supply of substances such as glucose throughout the body (Potter et al., 2012). To be able to perform these functions the liver cells must function normally. Alcohol abuse is usually connected to alcoholic liver disease that permanently damaged the liver due to excessive drinking and continued excessive drinking can shorten lifespan. If liver cirrhosis has not yet occurred, the liver can heal once the patient stop drinking alcohol (ABS, 2010).
The presentation of HCC has changed significantly over recent years especially in developed countries. In the past, HCC generally presented at an advanced stage with right upper quadrant pain, weight loss, and signs of decompensated liver disease. It is currently more regularly identified at an earlier stage as a result of routine screening of patients with known cirrhosis. This screening usually comes in the form of imaging studies and serum alpha-fetoprotein measurements2.
2. The specific microorganism should be isolated from the diseased animal and grown in pure culture on artificial laboratory media.
The disease attacks the organs within a dog and can be fatal. In the journal, Companion Animal, it reports that “Leptospires
These processes can get interfered due to liver failure, when the liver is damaged to an extent that it won’t function normally for months or years. The main causes for liver failure include hepatitis B, hepatitis C, long-term alcohol consumption, cirrhosis and malnutrition (WebMD, n.d.).
Blowey, R. W. (1990). A Veterinary Book for Dairy Farmer (Third ed.). Old Pont Publishing Ltd.