Liver Disease in Cats

The liver is the largest gland in the body and performs many vital functions. Learn all about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of liver disease in cats.

The liver is the largest gland in the body. Over 1500 different biochemical reactions take place in it. Only when 70% of the tissue is lost does it no longer function properly and the cat appears ill. Or to put it another way: Even if only 30% of the liver tissue is still working, the cat still looks healthy.

In addition, the liver is constantly rejuvenating by replacing old cells with new ones. In the course of a cat’s life, each liver cell is replaced about seven times. This property enables the liver to regenerate completely even after serious illnesses – the heart and kidneys are not able to do this, and damage to these organs cannot usually be repaired.

Tasks of the Liver

The liver does its job every day so inconspicuously that you could simply forget it. Nothing works without the liver in the cat’s organism. Because the liver fulfills many vital functions for cats:

• Dietary fats are broken down in the intestine via the bile formed in the liver so that they can pass through the intestinal wall and enter the bloodstream. In this way, the vital fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin A or E, are also absorbed into the organism.
• The liver produces many important auxiliary substances (enzymes) for the digestion of food.
• The liver prepares all the nutrients from food so that the various body cells can use them.
• The liver is responsible for detoxifying a variety of harmful substances
• The liver produces blood-clotting factors, without which even a small wound could cause the cat to bleed to death.
• The liver produces hormones and other messenger substances that have a regulating effect on fluid exchange, body temperature, circulation, and the immune system.

Symptoms of Liver Disease in Cats

The symptoms when the organ is ill are as diverse as the tasks of the liver. Symptoms of liver disease in cats can include:

• fatigue
• loss of appetite
• weight loss
• Vomit
• diarrhea
• recurrent constipation
• fever
• salivation
• Hemorrhages in the mucous membranes
• dull, lackluster coat of hair

The most well-known symptom of liver disease is jaundice (icterus), discoloration of the mucous membranes, and skin with the yellow pigment bilirubin. Bilirubin is made from the red blood pigment hemoglobin, which is released when the red blood cells die. The liver prepares the resulting bilirubin so that it can be excreted through the kidneys. If the liver is unable to do this, the bilirubin remains in the body.

Hepatoencephalic Syndrome in Cats With Liver Disease

In the course of liver disease, severe disorders of the nervous system and the brain can occur, the hepatoencephalic syndrome. It occurs because the diseased liver is no longer able to detoxify harmful substances. In particular, however, the pollutants from the protein metabolism are toxic to a cat’s nervous system. Hepatoencephalic syndrome is characterized by behavioral changes such as aggressiveness, anxiety, disorientation, muscle tremors and cramps, and even comatose states.

Diagnosis of Liver Damage in Cats

Despite the variety of symptoms, not one of these symptoms clearly proves liver damage. Even jaundice can also develop due to other causes such as a blood disorder. Various tests, such as blood tests, ultrasound, or biopsies (tissue removal for laboratory tests) are therefore carried out to diagnose liver diseases.

Causes of Liver Damage in Cats

The cause of the liver disease cannot always be found with certainty. Displacements of the bile ducts, circulatory disorders, and sometimes the damage from toxins are usually clear. Other causes of liver damage can be:

• Bacterial infection leading to purulent inflammation of the liver
• Liver damage accompanying infections such as FIP or feline leukemia
• Hormonal and metabolic disorders such as diabetes mellitus
  tumors

To treat liver diseases, the underlying causes should be identified and eliminated as far as possible. But that is often not so easy: Often the underlying disease cannot be identified, or it is an incurable disease such as FIP or feline leukemia.

Treatment of Liver Disease in Cats

There are no drugs that can effectively protect the liver or support its function. Therefore, diet plays the most important role in the treatment of liver disease in cats. The diet is primarily about providing the sick cat with the best possible care while protecting the liver. For this purpose, a highly concentrated and easily digestible food is used so that the liver has as little work as possible to process the nutrients and detoxify waste and pollutants. When feeding you should consider the following:

• It is best to feed the cat with liver disease several times a day with small portions.
• Additional doses of vitamins C, E, and B complex can help the liver. Caution is advised with vitamin A and the trace element copper – excessive amounts can put additional strain on the liver. Discuss all supplements with your vet beforehand!
• If blood clotting is impaired by liver disease, the veterinarian must inject vitamin K.

In the case of hepatoencephalic syndrome, the correct supply of protein to the sick cat is of great importance. The proteins (proteins) must…

• …can be reduced to the amount that is absolutely necessary.
• …be easy to digest. This avoids the formation of harmful waste products from the protein metabolism. The addition of certain raw fibers to the feed also serves this purpose. They should bind the toxic waste products in the intestine.

At the same time, the veterinarian will use antibiotics to influence the intestinal flora so that only a few toxic waste products are produced here.

In severe cases, fluid therapy must be given via infusion. Treating liver disease in cats is not easy – fatalities are possible despite intensive treatment and care. But if the cause of the disease can be eliminated and the liver problem can be managed, the chances of a cure are not so bad, because the liver can regenerate completely.

Hepatic Lipidosis in Cats

The most common liver disease in cats, hepatic lipidosis, is caused by abnormal fat metabolism. This occurs when the cat does not eat anything, e.g. due to an illness. In order to generate energy, the fat deposits in the body tissue are then melted off. The body fats go to the liver for further processing. If too much body fat accumulates at once, the liver cannot process it. The fats accumulate in the cells.

Above a critical amount, the fat impedes all important functions of the liver cells. It also causes the cells to swell dangerously. If the “fat flow” into the liver is not stopped, the liver cells eventually die and fatal liver failure occurs.

Incidentally, the most significant risk factor for this life-threatening liver crisis is obesity: the fat metabolism in fat cats goes off the rails much more frequently and faster than in slim cats of the same species. For other health reasons, too, a weight-loss treatment accompanied by a veterinarian is recommended for overweight cats. But the cat mustn’t lose weight too quickly either, because then there is a real risk that the fat metabolism will go off the rails. It is best to seek advice from your veterinarian.