Jaundice in cats - Causes and symptoms

Jaundice is defined as the yellowing of the skin , urine, serum and organs by accumulation of the pigment called bilirubin at the level of blood or tissues.It is a symptom, which is common in multiple diseases, so if our cat It shows an abnormal coloration at some point of your body, our veterinarian will have to perform several tests to establish a differential diagnosis.

If your cat suffers from this alteration and you want to know a little more about its origin, in the Next article of ExpertAnimal we detail you causes of jaundice in most common cats .

What is bilirubin?

Bilirubin is a product that is formed after degrading eirotrocitos (red blood cells), when they reach the end of their life (which lasts about 100 days).In the spleen and the medulosea, those red blood cells are destroyed, and from the pigment that gave them their color, hemoglobin, another yellow color is formed, bilirubin.

It is a complex process in which hemoglobin passes first to be transformed into biliverdin, which in turn is transformed into fat soluble biluribuna, and is released into the circulation, by which it travels attached to a protein until it reaches the liver.

In the liver, the large purifier of the organism, it is transformed into conjugated bilirubin and is stored in the gallbladder .Whenever the vesicle empties into the small intestine, a portion of bilirubin leaves with the rest of the bile components and, after the action of certain bacteria, it finally becomes the normal pigments that you see We daily, although we do not know: stercobilin (gives color to feces) and urobilinogen (gives color to urine).

Why does jaundice appear in cats?

At this point we can already realize that the liver is the key.Jaundice appears when the body is unable to properly excrete bilirubin and other components bile, although the place where the failure occurs, it is difficult to find in the first instance.

To simplify this complex issue, we could talk about:

• Hepatic jaundice (when the cause is in the liver).
• Posthepatic jaundice (the liver does its job, but in storage and transport there is a fault).
• Nonhepatic jaundice (when the problem has nothing to do with the liver, or with the storage and excretion of the pigment)

Symptoms of jaundice in cats

As indicated by At the beginning of the article, jaundice itself is already a symptom that indicates that the feline suffers from a health problem.Likewise, the most obvious sign of this disorder is the yellowish color of the skin, being more evident in the mouth, ears and , in general, the areas with less fur of the cat.

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Liver jaundice

In hepatic jaundice we observe that something is wrong at the liver level, since it cannot fulfill its mission and is not able to give way to the bilirubin that arrives.Normal, hepatic cells (hepatocytes) excrete this pigment into the bile ducts that run through the cellular network, and from there it will pass to the gallbladder.But when the cells are affected by some pathology, or there is an inflammation such that it is not possible to pass bilirubin to the bile duct network, intrahepatic cholestasis occurs.

What causes can cause hepatic jaundice in cats?

Any pathology that Directly affecting the liver can produce this accumulation of bilirubin.In cats we have the following:

• Hepatic lipidosis : Feline fatty liver may appear as a consequence of prolonged fasting in cats with a lot of fat, which moves without order to the hi In an attempt to get nutrients and in the end it invades it, as well as for many other reasons, but sometimes you never get to know why it appears, and we must call it hepatic lipidosis idiopathic.
• Neoplasia : especially in older patients, primary malignancies are a common cause of liver failure.They are called primary because they originate in the liver, without external factors, to Unlike the secondary ones.
• Feline hepatitis : Hepatocytes can be destroyed by substances that the cat accidentally swallowed, and which can lead to hepatitis.
• Biliary cirrhosis : Fribrosis of the bile ducts causes an inability to fulfill its mission and evacuate bilirubin into the gallbladder.
• Alterations at the vascular level of birth .

Sometimes we have alterations that can cause secondary liver failure, that is, caused by pathologies that, as a side effect, give rise to liver problems.affected by neoplasms secondary to feline leukemia and also alterations or damage Hepaticos because of an infection of feline infectious peritonitis, a toxoplasmosis, or because of diabetes mellitus . As a result of any of these problems, we will see a clear jaundice in the cat.

Posthepatic jaundice

The cause of the bilirubin accumulation is outside the liver , when the pigment has already passed through the hepatocytes for processing.For example, a mechanical obstruction of the extrahepatic bile duct, the one that drains the bile into the dudodene.This obstruction can cause it:

• A pancreatitis , inflammation of the pancreas.
• One neoplasia in the duodenum or pancreas, which compresses the area by proximity and makes it impossible to excrete the contents of the gallbladder.
• A rupture after a trauma to the duct bile, so you cannot evacuate the bile into the intestine (run over, knock, fall from a window...).

In cases of a total interruption of bile flow (rupture of the bile duct) you can see the yellowish color in mucous membranes or skin and, however, notice the feces without coloring, since the pigment that gives them color does not reach the intestine (the stercobilin).

Nonhepatic jaundice

This type of jaundice in cats happens when the problem is an excess bilirubin production , so that the liver is not able to give way to the extra amount of pigment, although nothing is damaged in the car, or in the transport to the duodenum, it occurs, for example, in the hemolysis (breakage of red blood cells), which may be due to factors such as:

• Toxic : for example, paracetamol, naphthalene or onion are substances that produce healthy red blood cell breakage, causing anemia and an overload for the system responsible for destroying the remains of those globules.
• Viric or bacterial infections , such as hemobartonellosis.Antigens will be deposited on the surface of the red blood cells, and the immune system will see them as a target to target.and destroy.Other times no external help is needed, and the immune system itself has a failure and begins to destroy its own s erythrocytes for no reason.
• Hyperthyroidism : The mechanism by which jaundice occurs in cats with hyperthyroidism is not well known, but it may be an increase in the degradation of red blood cells.

How to know what causes jaundice in my cat?

The laboratory and diagnostic imaging tests will be essential, along with a detailed medical history that our veterinarian will prepare from the information we provide.Although it may seem irrelevant, every detail must be communicated, for example, does our cat often play with hair bands?

Performing blood count and biochemistry, as well as determining hematocrit and total proteins, are the beginning of a battery of complementary tests.

In cats with jaundice, it is easiest to find the elevated liver enzymes , but it does not tell us if the cause is a primary or secondary hepatobiliary disease., an excessive increase of one of them with respect to the rest can guide us, but an ultrasound and radiological study must always be carried out (masses can be detected, duodenal obstructions, fat infiltration...) Even before this, the medical history and basic examination can allow the veterinarian to find thyroid nodules, fluid in the abdomen (ascites), and find out a possible exposure to hepatotoxic drugs.

Jaundice, therefore, we must understand it as a symptom shared by hundreds of alterations of all kinds, so find out its origin without a complete history, examination and testing Laboratory and diagnostic imaging in many cases (and even biopsies in others), is impossible.

This article is merely informative, at ExpertAnimal.com we have no power to prescribe veterinary treatments or make any type of diagnosis.We invite you to take your pet to the veterinarian in the event that he presents any type of condition or discomfort r.

If you want to read more articles similar to Jaundice in cats-Causes and symptoms , we recommend you go to our Other health problems section.