ferret - Articles
Cachexia
Introduction
- Cause: inadequate access to food, inappropriate diet, stress induced anorexia, disease process leading to anorexia (eg dental disease, renal disease, neoplasia), altered metabolism or absorption.
- Signs: poor body condition, muscle atrophy, weakness.
- Diagnosis: clinical appearance, body condition score, history, diagnosis of underlying disease process
- Treatment: correct hydration and electrolyte imbalances prior to implementing assist feeding, treat underlying medical cause.
- Prognosis: poor if underlying clinical disease.
Presenting signs
- Weakness or collapse Collapse.
- Debilitation.
- Emaciated body condition (body condition score 1/5) Assessment of growth / body condition scoring.
- Signs related to underlying disease, eg polyuria, polydipsia, diarrhea Diarrhea.
- Anorexia Anorexia if underlying disease process, may have normal or increased appetite if due to metabolic or chronic disease.
Acute presentation
Age predisposition
- May occur more frequently in aged animals if related to underlying or chronic disease, eg neoplasia Insulinoma.
Cost considerations
- Intensive treatment protocol requiring hospitalization for supportive care: fluid therapy, blood electrolyte monitoring, nutritional support, pain management.
- Cost of diagnostics, eg bloods, diagnostic imaging to investigate underlying cause.
Special risks
- Anesthetic risk of emaciated, unstable animal.
- Risk of refeeding syndrome: monitor electrolytes as start to introduce feeding after period of anorexia.
Pathogenesis
Etiology
- End stage of chronic disease process, eg chronic renal failure Renal failure, chronic dental disease Periodontal disease, neoplasia Insulinoma, cardiac disease Heart disease.
Predisposing factors
General
- Any chronic disease process leading to altered metabolism, impaired digestion or absorption.
Specific
- Renal failure Renal failure leading to protein losing nephropathy.
- Chronic intestinal disease, eg inflammatory bowel disease Inflammatory bowel disease leading to protein losing enteropathy.
- Neoplastic disease Insulinoma.
- Cardiac disease Heart disease.
- Chronic infectious / inflammatory disease.
Pathophysiology
- Malnutrition.
- Maldigestion.
- Malabsorption.
- Leads to loss of protein from skeletal muscle leading to atrophy.
- Loss of body fat reserves.
- Loss of protein from liver, heart, intestine impairs function.
- Increased mobilization of fat reserves by the liver may result in hepatic lipidosis due to excessive fat accumulation in the liver.
Timecourse
- Chronic: weeks, months.
Diagnosis
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Treatment
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Prevention
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Outcomes
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Further Reading
Publications
Refereed papers
- Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
- Johnson-Delaney C (2020) Geriatric ferrets. Vet Clin North Am Exotic Anim Pract 23 (3), 549-565 VetMedResource.
Other sources of information
- van Zeeland Y R A & Schoemaker N J (2021) Nutrition and Fluid Therapy. In: Exotic Animal Emergency and Critical Care Medicine. Eds: Graham J E, Doss G A & Beaufrere G. Wiley Blackwell, USA. pp 109-122.