11 Liver exercises I
Spending some time connecting your physiology to your future practice is always good for brain consolidation. To explore related topics, start with google scholar, wikipedia, and/or merck vet manual!
Challenge Exercises
General
- Would a compound like amino-pro really work?
- What diet would you recommend if your favorite species had liver failure?
- How does ammonia cause hepatic encephalopathy?
- What happens with high levels of serum bile acids in the body?
- What proteins are involved in coagulation?
- How do we use enzyme half lives to determine when liver disease happened? (ALT, AST, ALP)
- Explain common signs associated with liver disease
- How does liver disease lead to photosensitization? What is photosensitization?
- Find and interpret abnormal lab results related to liver function
- How do antibiotics interfere with the Pill?
- How do you evaluate the liver ultrasonographically?
- Create a mnemonic for common causes of liver disease in your favorite species
Dogs
- What are congenital disorders of the liver (besides shunts)?
- How does copper affect liver function?
- Explain 3 toxin (or infection or drug or other) causes of liver disease in dogs
- How do SAM-E and milk thistle help with liver disease?
- How would you treat xylitol toxicity?
- Check out these liver disorders in dogs:
- copper storage disorders
- steroid hepatopathy
- hepatic and biliary neoplasia
- nodular regeneration
- Leptospirosis
- biliary mucocele
- hepatic amyloidosis
- primary hypoplasia of the portal vein
- cholelithiasis
- hydatid cysts
- toxins –
- cycad palms, sago palms
- mushroom toxicosis
- blue green algae
- aflatoxin
- carprofen
- phenobarbital
Cats
- Explain 3 toxin (or infection or drug or other) causes of liver disease in cats
- What are the most effective tests for liver disease in cats?
- Explain tylenol toxicity in cats
- What breeds are prone to liver disease?
- Check out these feline liver conditions
- liver flukes
- neoplasia
- cystadenoma
- FIP
Horses
- Explain 3 toxin (or infection or drug or other) causes of liver disease in horses
- What are the most effective tests for liver disease in horses?
- How do choleliths affect horses if they don’t have gall bladders? What does CCK do?
- How does tetanus antitoxin cause liver disease?
- Toxic plants in North America include cocklebur, Lantana and Helenium species. What do these do to the liver?
- Iron injections can kill foals. How and why?
- Check out these disorders in horses:
- biliary atresia
- hyperammonemia of Morgans
- neonatal isoerythrolysis
- hepatic torsion
- portal vein thrombosis
- right dorsal colon displacements
- cholelithiasis
- glycogen branching enzyme deficiency
Ruminants
- Explain 3 toxin (or infection or drug or other) causes of liver disease in ruminants
- What are the most effective tests for liver disease in ruminants?
- How do we treat liver disease in ruminants?
- How does moldy hay affect ruminants?
- Farms tend to have lots of chemicals around. Which ones are hepatotoxic?
- Cattle can get liver abscesses. What are the risk factors?
- What happens with copper toxicity in sheep?
- Check out these common liver disorders in cattle:
- liver flukes
- black disease
- bacillary hemoglobinurea
- pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicity
Swine
- What is postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome? What might labwork look like?
- What are liver milk spots?
- Farms tend to have more chemicals around. Which ones are hepatotoxic?
- What are hydatid cysts?
Pocket pets
- Which pocket pets get fatty liver?
- What causes liver abscesses in chinchillas? How are they treated?
- What is Tyzzer’s disease in gerbils and hamsters? How is it treated?
- What is amyloidosis in hamsters?
- What kind of liver disease do sugar gliders get? How is it diagnosed?
