Liver issues

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tunes

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What are the symptoms of liver problems in chins? What is the outcome if a chin is diagnosed with it?

This is a tough question because "liver problems" is very broad. I will try to answer the overall question first, then if people have more specific questions after this, we can narrow it down.

Primary liver disease in chinchillas is very rare, but still possible, especially with age. "Liver failure" symptoms include anorexia, lethargy, seizure activity, and death. Once diagnosed with primary liver disease, you can use some medications to support the liver, but there is nothing you can do to reverse the damage at that point.

Secondary liver disease is very common in chinchillas. Types of secondary liver disease are hepatic lipidosis, bacterial hepatitis, and cancer. Hepatic lipidosis occurs when the chin stops eating, so the body tries to get calories from fat storage. The fat deposits in the liver and causes elevation of liver enzymes that can make the chin feel sick. This is treated with supportive care (force feeding, fluids, pain meds, etc.) Bacterial hepatitis occurs from bacteria spread to the liver through the bloodstream from almost any origin - mouth, lungs, skin, etc. This can be treated with antibiotics and supportive care.
Both of these secondary liver diseases can leave behind permanent damage that can later lead to liver failure, so the chin's prognosis is always guarded.

I am sure there are going to be follow-up questions, but I hope this was easy to understand.

Angie

If you have followup questions, please send them to me and I will forward them to Angie.
 
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