Natural Pet Health

There is a difference between liver disease and liver failure. Liver disease is a general term applied to any disorder that is affecting liver. The blood tests in this case show higher levels of liver enzymes. Apart from fatty liver disease, which is a more common in cats, other types of feline liver diseases are caused by toxins from food and drugs, trauma, heatstroke and infections.

A liver shunt, where the blood bypasses the liver instead of going through it, is a genetic defect in the portal vein but may be acquired in certain cases.

Liver disease in dogs is a more common occurrence than feline liver disease. Liver has always been a mysterious organ, which performs more functions in maintaining life than any other organ in the body. Its large size with the capacity to continue work even when it is affected by disease makes it difficult to diagnose a liver disease. In addition, given the right support, liver cells can regenerate and bounce back to normal functioning.

One of the major functions of liver is to metabolize fats, carbohydrates and proteins. If the liver does not function properly, the nutrients cannot be metabolized effectively and harmful by-products cannot be broken down. This can greatly affect the detoxification process. For example:

The liver has innate properties of regenerating itself and can function easily even when a major part of its mass has been affected by a disease. This is the double edged nature of the largest organ in the body. It is advantageous in as much as it means that it keeps on working to its full potential for a long time even when it is affected by a liver disease. On the other hand, it also restricts manifestation of symptoms of liver disease in dogs while the disease continues to progress.

The main problem with feline liver disease is that by the time it starts manifesting specific liver related symptoms, almost two thirds of it has already been affected. This is partly because the liver has a huge reserve capacity and continues to function even after a majority of its cells have been destroyed or weakened and partly because the liver cells have an enormous capacity to regenerate and get back to work. Another possible reason for late detection is the inherent similarity of symptoms of liver disease in dogs and cats with other mild conditions.

Before understanding the treatment of liver disease in dogs, it is necessary to understand the functions that the liver performs in the body. The liver is the largest and among the most important organs in the body with an immense reserve capacity. Its multiple functions include:

* Regulation of the level of most of the chemicals in the body.
* Production of proteins for blood plasma.
* Conversion of waste products.
* Support in the regulation of fat distribution in the body.
* Production of bile for easy digestion.
* Regulation of amino acid levels.
* Storage of glycogen for later use as an energy source as per need of the body.
* Elimination of toxins from the blood.

The function of the immune system in a dog’s body is to recognize and destroy foreign substances and pathogens. Sometimes this system can go awry due to one reason or the other and starts attacking the body’s own cells. Conditions caused by such self-destructive responses are known as autoimmune or immune mediated diseases.

The immune system normally removes and destroys red blood cells that are four months old. New red blood cells are produced in the bone marrow to replenish the loss. Immune mediated hemolytic anemia is a condition where the immune system starts destroying red blood cells more than the bone marrow can produce.

It is a mad jungle out there when it comes to selling dog food. Seeing the number of brands, the different types of sales pitches adopted by marketers and the fancy names with tongue twisting ingredients printed on labels, it appears the focus is on attracting buyers and grabbing a share of the whopping $ 11 billion pie..

In addition, each manufacturer launches numerous types of pet food under one brand. There are moist, semi moist and dry dog foods. Their use of terminology, like ‘premium’, ‘super-premium’, and ‘gourmet’ are mere nomenclatures since they hardly mean any thing. Even though the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) regulates what must be printed on the labels. The warnings are all mentioned in small print and therefore do not serve to warn the consumers adequately.

The large size of the liver stands testimony to the multifunctional roles that it plays in the health of a dog. Its importance can be gauged from the fact that 25% of the blood pumped out with each heartbeat goes into the liver alone. Another significant aspect of the liver lies in the fact that it stores its capacity for emergencies and uses only a small amount of its potential at any given time. This inherent property actually works against your pet as the symptoms of liver disease in dogs remain hidden for a long time. The liver has an advantage that is matched by very few organs in the body. Liver cells can regenerate themselves allowing a disease struck liver to resume normal functions in many cases.

Its multifunctional nature and its unusually large size with six lobes, makes the liver a complex organ. It is equally affected by primary diseases that originate from it and secondary problems that start from other organs but reflect upon liver functions. Veterinarians usually perceive liver disease in dogs on the basis of the age of the animal. In young dogs, a liver disease is normally caused by toxicity, diversion of blood from normal channels or viruses. In older dogs inflammation and cancer are the usual suspects.

A liver shunt is a blood vessel that carries blood around the liver instead of carrying blood through the liver. A liver shunt problem is mostly congenital. A dog may also acquire multiple small shunts from a severe liver disease, such as cirrhosis. There are basically two kinds of liver shunt conditions that are possible – congenital liver shunt and acquired liver shunt.

Congenital Liver Shunts

The liver function is not needed in the fetus. The mother’s liver performs functions like filtering, production of proteins and storage of sugar for the unborn baby. There is a large shunt in mammalian fetuses that carries blood from the fetal liver to the heart. This shunt (duct) usually closes once the baby’s liver becomes operational before or after birth. In rare cases this shunt does not close leading to what is known as a congenital ‘intra hepatic’ shunt. In certain cases, a blood vessel outside the liver grows abnormally and remains open while the fetal shunt closes. This condition is known as congenital ‘extra-hepatic’ shunt.