Tag: liver

Animal Rescue

Liver Problems In Canines

Rusty

Just like human beings, dogs also can have liver problems. Their livers can be damaged by toxins, chemicals and other waste products.

The liver plays an important role in the dog’s body and you, as its owner, you must find ways to protect it. Liver diseases can affect any dog, no matter if it is small or big, young or old. There are many reasons why liver diseases happen and most of the times the liver does not regenerate itself.

Popular causes for liver diseases in dogs

Some of the most common diseases in the liver appear due to heart or some circulatory problems that affect the flow of the blood. Some metabolic diseases such as Cushing’s disease, diabetes, pancreatitis, or hypothyroidism can cause liver damage. Also, the toxins in many commercial foods contain additives, many preservatives, or prescribed medications. Some viral, bacterial and fungal infections can cause liver damage. Other causes include trauma, malnutrition and environmental stresses.

Symptoms

Many of the symptoms are not predictable but here are the most common one that can raise suspicion:

– The dog looses the appetite and he also looses weight

– He had diarrhea, the vomits and has constipation

– The feces are gray

– The belly gets swollen because the abdomen is accumulating fluids

– The dog is lethargic or is depressed

– It tends to drink a lot of water

– Changes in behaviour

– Blood in the stool and urine

Treatment

A thorough physical examination is a must and this includes testing the urine and the blood. X-rays, ultrasound tests, and liver biopsy are also among the tests.

Dietary Changes

The dog has to have a changed diet that contains vitamins, proteins, minerals, digestible carbohydrates and a lot of healthy things that do not stress the liver cells. Vitamin K and also vitamin E are very important.

Herbal Medications: can stimulate the good functioning of the liver Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is used to clean the toxins.

Milk Thistle Seeds (Silybum marianum/Carduus marianusare also a natural treatment and also the Greenleaf Tablets that will detoxify the body.

Medication

Medication therapy is recommended in many cases. Usually the vets prescribe corticosteroids to increase the appetite of the dog and also reduce the inflammation. Colchicine, is also given to dogs that have fibrosis (cirrhosis) in the liver. Glucocorticoids (prednisone) and azathioprine are also prescribed. So take care of your dog and always listen to the vet…

Pet Adoption

Feline Liver Disease And Feline Diarrhoea Treatment

Rusty

The Webinar Vet has had a great experience in our first feline series which we held in conjunction with Hills. This was a 200 series of veterinary webinars which thanks to the kind sponsorship of Hills was free to all delegates.

There were several hundred attendees at each webinar. Many different nations were represented on this free online veterinary CPD.

Our first veterinary webinar was with Professor Danielle Gunn-Moore and was concerning feline liver disease. This was a fantastic veterinary webinar which used case material to discuss her approach to the liver patient. Danielle??s enthusiasm is so infectious and we had so many positive comments from the attendees.

The next two veterinary webinars were given by Martha Cannon, a feline specialist based in Oxford. Martha always gives very practical veterinary CPD and these two talks were excellent. In the veterinary webinar on renal disease she discussed the value of diet as well as other treatments. Cats on specialist renal diets will often live twice as long as those fed ordinary diets after diagnosis of chronic renal disease.

In the second veterinary webinar, Martha discussed feline diarrhoea using clinical cases to discuss possible approaches and then in the third veterinary webinar discussed the thorny issue of kidney disease, such a scourge in the cat. The Hills diet k/d is a very important part of treatment in cats suffering from kidney disease as it protects the cat??s kidney and slows progress of the disease. Indeed cats fed on specialist kidney diets will live twice as long as those who are fed ordinary commercial diets.

Norman Johnstone is one of the most famous veterinary dentists in the world. We were honoured to have him on the fourth veterinary webinar in our five veterinary webinar series, free online vet CPD kindly provided by Hills Pet Nutrition. He talked about feline stomatitis and gave some fascinating insights into the treatment of this nasty condition. Interferon seems to be the drug of choice

Finally Duncan Lascelles from North Carolina State University gave an excellent veterinary webinar on feline osteoarthritis. In one study 95%of cats showed radiological signs of osteoarthritis in one or more joints. Cats suffering from osteoarthritis often had a stiff gait and had difficulty jumping. Duncan discussed the various treatments that are available in cats. Often this disease is missed by owners and vats and hence no treatment is prescribed.

This whole series of veterinary webinars, including a bonus talk on feline diabetes is available at and will contribute 6 hours of veterinary CPD to the 35 hours yearly target that all MRCVSs must accomplish to satisfy The Royal College.

This brilliant series of veterinary webinars was brought to you by Hills and The Webinar Vet, a fantastic online resource for vet CPD.…