Clinical and pathological studies in cattle with hepatic disease.

摘要

The progression of disease was studied in cattle with hepatic lipidosis (n=44), hepatic abscessation (n=18), leptospirosis (n=7), biliary calculi (n=2) or fasciolosis (n=11) at the University of Liverpool. Weight loss, anorexia, dullness and depression were consistent features in all cattle. Signs of hepatic encephalopathy, such as blindness, head pressing, excitability, ataxia and weakness were less common and, together with pyrexia and jaundice, were grave prognostic signs. Plasma ammonia concentrations were significantly elevated compared with healthy cattle (n=43), but such changes were not always accompanied by a decline in plasma urea concentrations. In healthy cattle, the plasma ammonia:urea concentration ratio was 9:1 and the plasma ammoni