Feline inflammatory liver disease: diagnosis and management

FELINE inflammatory liver disease is the most common primary hepatic disorder of cats encountered in the UK but, despite this, there is still much confusion surrounding its diagnosis and management. In the past, this has been partly due to inconsistency in the terminology used for describing and classifying feline inflammatory liver disease, making it difficult to compare cases described in the literature and hard to relate that information to all clinical cases. As a result, the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) recently established a Liver Standardization Group, which has re-evaluated and redefined the histological criteria for both canine and feline liver diseases. This article describes how to recognise variations in the clinical characteristics of different types of feline liver disease in order to identify the underlying cause and initiate appropriate management.