From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2007-03-24 23:12:37 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Hepatitis info, please?
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Please, give more details on how this
conclusion was reached, and details about
the ferret: tests done, age, symptoms,
conditions, things which changes around that
time,etc.
I don't know off hand of any sites specifically
on that, but I do know that vets who are not
used to ferret livers do get confused by their
pathology reports, so I will send you to two
locations to help understand that confusion
as well as pointing out some vet replies in the
over 90 past FHL posts that mention hepatitis.
>From the Archives:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG3364
BEGIN QUOTE
Hepatitis is not a single disease entity, but the
term we use for inflammation of the liver. Liver
inflammation in ferrets can occur for a number
of reasons - bacterial, parasitic, drug-induced,
even certain types of tumors can mimic a hepatitis.
While the elevated bilirubin would tend to support
some form of liver impairment (not necessarily
inflamamtion) without knowing more of the story,
it is difficult to point to any one cause. However,
that is why you took the biopsy. The results of the
report will likely dictate the type of treatment that
Spike will be on.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
END QUOTE
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG2532
BEGIN QUOTE
While this information may be valid in dogs, the
balance of it is not valid in the ferret. This is a
good example of why I commonly caution vets
and owners "A ferret is not a cat, nor is it a dog."
I think that this is best classified as not related to ferrets.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
END QUOTE
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG1397
BEGIN QUOTE
Inflammatory bowel disease is a very specific
diagnosis with a very characteristic set of signs.
Before I would start him on a potentially
immunosuppressive agent, I would make sure that
all involved, including the pathologist, agree that
this is true inflammatory bowel disease.
> Also, can anyone explain how hepatitis fits into
all of this. He had some white lesions on his liver
and pathology says it is hepatitis.
Lymphocytic portal hepatitis may be seen in
chronic inflammatory disease of the GI treact - it
could be Helicobacter, IBD, or other forms of
inflammation. It is not a condition that should be
the focus of treatment.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
END QUOTE
etc.
And here are common liver pathology
interpretation mistakes made from ferret test
results if the people are not used to ferrets:
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/PDF/Ferret_GI_path_reports.pdf
That one is hard to pull from but it's a very worthwhile
read for anyone having anything to do with ferrets.
ditto
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/Clin_Path/ClinPath.html
including
BEGIN QUOTE
Probably the most common misinterpretation
that I see on a routine basis is in the area of
hepatic enzymes. Remember, that the ferret,
being by nature an obligate carnivore, has an
extremely short digestive tract, and requires
meals as often as every four to six hours.
Should food not be available, it possesses the
ability to quickly mobilize peripheral fat stores
in order to meet energy requirements. When this
physiologic mechanism is activated, the liver is
literally flooded with fat, which results in
hepatocellular swelling which may be marked.
The result of this swelling is the leakage of
membrane enzymes such as alanine aminotransferase,
and as the hepatocellular swelling increases,
occlusion of bile canaliculi occurs, resulting, over time,
in elevation of alkaline phosphatase.
In conjunction with this physiologic change, elevations
of ALT up to 800 mg/dl can be seen, and alkaline
phosphatase up to approximately 100 mg/dl. This
often causes confusion to practitioners, who render an
erroneous diagnosis of unspecified hepatic disease.
However, hepatic disease is quite uncommon in this
species; the most common cause of true hepatic disease
in the ferret is neoplasia, with lymphosarcoma causing
95% of cases. Rarely bacterial infections of the liver or
biliary tree may be seen.
The diagnosis of hepatic disease in the ferret must be
based not only on ALT and alkaline phosphatase, but
other clinical indicators in the CBC and chem panel.
Clinical elevation of icterus or an elevated bilirubin is
an excellent indicatior of primary hepatic disease, or
concomitant leukocytosis or pyrexia may lend
additional credence to a diagnosis of primary hepatic
disease.
Decreased total protein and mild hypoalbuminemia
is a common finding in both ill and older ferrets. Most
commonly, hypoalbuminemia indicates prolonged anorexia
in the ferret, but it is also a common feature in long-standing
inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract. In older
animals, gastroduodenal infection by Helicobacter mustelae
is a common cause of mild hypoalbuminemia, and in young
animals, any inflammatory bowel disease may cause this sign.
END QUOTE
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