Liver cirrhosis in cats: symptoms, treatment, prognosis

What causes the disease?

Cirrhosis is a pathological disease that occurs due to destructive changes in the tissues of the liver of cats. A characteristic feature is an increase in the area of expanding connective tissue over the area of the organ. Which, in turn, leads to a malfunction of the system. As a rule, the manifestation of this disease is characteristic of elderly and middle-aged animals.

One of the manifestations of cirrhosis is liver fibrosis in cats. If we decipher this term, it means “overgrowth of connective tissue.” Experts classify fibrosis as a separate group of diseases. In fact, cirrhosis has other symptoms besides fibrosis.

Veterinarians distinguish between primary and secondary cirrhosis.

The causes of the first type of disease are:

lack of vitamins in the body, in particular B6;
disruption of glycogen metabolism in the organ;
poisoning of the body with toxic compounds for a long time (household chemicals, pesticides, medications that have a hepatotoxic effect);
eating food or other products that have been contaminated with mold fungi.

Factors that provoke cirrhosis and its development are:

diseases caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi;
damage to the organ by liver parasites;
against the background of primary organ ailments (hepatitis, hepatosis).

The causes leading to cirrhosis are heart failure and disturbances in the functioning of the body, accompanied by a disturbance in the outflow of bile.

Symptoms of cirrhosis in cats

A disease such as cirrhosis is characterized by a latent and chronic course of the disease. It is almost impossible to identify the symptoms of liver cirrhosis in cats at an early stage. The disease manifests itself when the chance of recovery is unlikely. Late detection of symptoms occurs due to the ability of liver cells to quickly recover and regenerate.

However, if you know some characteristic signs, you can begin treatment immediately. And the sooner the owner pays attention to them, the higher the chances of recovery.

Decreased appetite.
Low activity, apathy, fatigue, drowsiness, lethargy.
Weight loss.
Abnormal stool (alternating diarrhea and constipation).
Frequent urination (urine color: orange; discharge of bilirubin from the urethra).
Vomiting mixed with bile.
Enlargement of the abdominal cavity.
Urination in large quantities.
The appearance of yellowness on the mucous membranes (characteristic of the late stage).
Frequent bleeding, low blood clotting.
The appearance of convulsions, loss of coordination, increased salivation. Pets often meow, indicating that they are in great pain.

Since these symptoms are minor, it is quite difficult to detect cirrhosis at an early stage.

Symptoms of the disease

The insidiousness of cirrhosis is that, unlike simple inflammatory processes in the liver, it has practically no signs in the early stages. Doctors explain this by the fact that the organ cells have high regenerative qualities. However, this positive aspect plays a bad role for the cat’s health, since it ends up on the operating table with an advanced pathology, which is almost impossible to cure.

However, owners, in any case, should carefully monitor symptoms of the disease such as:

Lethargy, the cat’s loss of desire to walk and play with the owner. The animal prefers to sleep, and with physical activity, even minimal, it quickly gets tired.
Appetite is significantly reduced, which leads to weight loss and further weakens the mustachioed friend.
The cat often vomits, and bile impurities are clearly visible in the vomit.
The process of defecation is disrupted, the cat alternates between diarrhea and constipation.
The cat absorbs a lot of liquid.
Uncontrolled urination, sometimes the pet does not have time to get to a place specially designated for this purpose.
The cat's abdominal cavity swells as excess fluid accumulates there; this is called ascites in medicine (popularly called dropsy).
In advanced forms, a clear sign of cirrhosis is yellowing of the mucous membranes of the animal.
The coagulability of blood fluid decreases, and frequent bleeding is possible.
Constant intoxication of the body causes encephalopathy, which provokes a loss of coordination of the cat's movements, increases the secretion of saliva and leads to a change in its behavior from calm to aggressive. A sick furry friend can meow loudly, thereby attracting the owner's attention to his problem.
The color of the urine becomes significantly darker.

Unfortunately, when asked by owners whether it is possible to determine whether a cat has cirrhosis in the initial stages, doctors answer negatively. The disease develops secretly and, at the time of detection, it is often impossible to change anything.

Only a qualified specialist can determine cirrhosis in representatives of the cat family. First of all, the doctor will study the anamnesis (medical history) and conduct a clinical examination of the furry patient. The last procedure includes palpation of the animal, since the pathology is characterized by an increase in the size of the liver, as well as the accumulation of excess fluid in the pet’s abdomen.

In some cases, an organ biopsy and determination of fatty acid concentrations may be required. Only after all the necessary manipulations have been carried out will it be possible to determine with confidence which treatment will give the greatest effect.

Diagnosis of the disease

As soon as you suspect the presence of a disease, you should immediately consult a doctor. Whether the prognosis will be comforting or not depends only on the speed of the owner’s reaction.

To identify this disease, the following types of diagnostics are used:

A doctor examines the abdomen for fluid accumulation (ascites). Ascites manifests itself upon palpation. The specialist conducts a clinical examination in order to identify the boundaries of the organ. Fibrosis causes the organ area to expand and go beyond physiological boundaries.
Ultrasound. It is considered the most informative diagnostic method. The specialist determines how severely fibrosis has affected the liver, identifies the nodes of regeneration foci, and determines the structure of the organ. Ultrasound examination is also necessary to detect ascites in the abdominal cavity. In addition, an enlarged spleen is a sure companion to cirrhosis.
General urine analysis. What should not be in urine? Basically, bilirubin and protein. Their concentration in the urethra should be zero. But urobilinogen and bile acids are normally found in microdoses. They should not exceed a certain level.
Blood chemistry. Cirrhosis contributes to a decrease in the level of protein, prothrombin, cholesterol and hemoglobin. Such studies will show an increase in the concentration of bilirubin and gamma globulins. Using this test, you can determine your blood sugar levels and kidney enzyme concentrations.
Conducting serological tests to detect the source of infection.
Study of the functioning of the thyroid gland.
Organ biopsy. This is done extremely rarely.

Treatment of liver cirrhosis in cats

When a pet owner learns about the diagnosis, he wants to know the prognosis. As a rule, the veterinarian's answer is disappointing. The problem is that connective tissue replaces normal, healthy tissue, and this process, alas, cannot be reversed. Treatment of liver cirrhosis in cats can be successful, but no one can guarantee the animal’s complete recovery.

If cirrhosis is of the secondary type, then the efforts of specialists and the owner are directed towards eliminating the underlying disease.

Administration of intravenous injections of glucose and calcium borogluconate. This is necessary to maintain an exhausted body.
At the same time, any medications that could lead to severe damage to the organ are discontinued. This is especially true for hormonal medications.
In order for the treatment of cats to be successful, “human” drugs are used in veterinary medicine: Essentiale, Phosphogliv, Ovesol, etc.
Providing animals with a vitamin-mineral complex. B vitamins will be especially important.

Treatment also involves the administration of albumin at a reduced protein concentration.
If bleeding is observed, the doctor prescribes hemostatic drugs (Dicinon, Vikasol).
To protect the animal from ascites, diuretics are prescribed.
Sometimes the veterinarian prescribes antibacterial medications to prevent and reduce the risk of developing peritonitis and hepatitis.
If the pet is being treated in a specialized clinic, then fluid from the abdominal cavity is removed through a puncture (laparocentesis).

The prognosis for recovery will be more favorable if the treatment is accompanied by complete rest of the animal and the consumption of special medicinal feed.

Hepatitis toxic and infectious

Hepatitis is a liver disease in which the basic functions of this organ, as well as the metabolic processes of the entire body, are disrupted as a result of the breakdown of liver cells.

Depending on the causes of hepatic hepatitis, it is divided into two types:

Toxic - caused by poisoning from the ingestion of poisons, chemicals, drug overdose, and eating harmful plants;
Infectious – caused by viral and parasitic diseases, can develop in parallel with other diseases.

Toxic hepatitis is characterized by the following symptoms:

loss of appetite;
temperature increase;
apathetic state of the animal;
weakening of the pulse;
difficulty breathing;
refusal of water;
change in urine color.

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When treating this liver problem, a diet and the use of special medications to maintain immunity, antibiotics, and vitamins are prescribed. To avoid a cat getting toxic hepatitis, it is enough to avoid poisoning the animal.

Infectious hepatitis has the following symptoms:

yellowing of the mucous membranes;
vomit;
constipation;
weight loss;
temperature increase;
increased feeling of thirst.

The treating veterinarian prescribes antibiotics, vitamins, glucose and antispasmodics to cats with this disease. At the same time, it is not allowed to give the animal dairy and meat products or broths at the beginning of treatment. You can feed them with porridge and drink decoctions and herbal infusions.

Preventative methods against infectious hepatitis include:

timely vaccination;
use of anthelmintics;
availability of fresh air;
minimizing contact between the domestic cat and stray animals;
feeding thermally processed or frozen food;
use of antiparasitic drugs in the proportions specified in the instructions.

Preventive measures

To prevent fibrosis from affecting the liver and contributing to the development of cirrhosis, it is necessary to take care of premature prevention:

Timely vaccination of the animal.
Carrying out deworming.
Avoiding poisoning and intoxication.
Use of antibiotics and other medications as prescribed by a doctor.
Reducing the risk of primary pathologies or curing them.

If a doctor has diagnosed fibrosis in an animal and, as a consequence, poor condition of the organ, then the prognosis for recovery from cirrhosis given by the specialist will vary depending on the degree of liver damage in cats. The less healthy tissue left, the less likely the animal is to survive.

Statistics show that animals with damaged livers live no more than 1.5 years. At the same time, all the time the pet will undergo unpleasant procedures to pump out fluid from the abdominal cavity, administer intravenous injections, and strictly adhere to a nutrition plan.

The owner must remember that the sooner he pays attention to the symptoms, the sooner he seeks help from a doctor, the higher the animal’s chances of recovery and future life. It must be remembered that this disease is considered one of the most insidious and serious. Therefore, take care of your animals!

Prevention

Prevention of serious illness comes down to the following measures:

carrying out routine vaccinations;

regular deworming;

prevention of intoxication and poisoning;

use of antibiotics and medications only as prescribed by the attending physician;

treatment of primary pathologies (invasions, hepatitis, hepatosis, etc.).

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