Fatty Liver disease

avasims

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rogers minnesota
Hello, I have posted an earlier thread on my concerns about my golden Greek tortoise. in this thread I think that I have found out what the actual problem with him is. I noticed that his skin was looking a bit yellow today so I looked up why is my tortoises skin yellow and one of the main signs was liver failure. I looked up other symptoms of liver disease and such and he matched all the symptoms. I have been feeding my pet tortoise peas for years because I had been told that it’s very good for him and he absolutely loves them. Apparently peas affect the liver and causes fatty liver disease and my tort is now paying the price for being fed it quite frequently over the past nine years. mind you, he never had any problems AT ALL before this. The entire thing was very sudden which is a clear sign of fatty liver disease. I am almost 100% positive that if I were to get my tort tested the results would most likely diagnose with fatty liver disease as all the symptoms match perfectly. I saw on a different thread that liver failure can sometimes be helped by milk thistle extract. my attempt to relieve some of the pain for my tortoise was to buy some of that and dilute it with water. I syringe fed a small amount to him due to the fact that he did not eat anything today or much of anything the day before either. it’s been a roller coaster of feeling better and feeling worse over the past four months and I am desperate for advice on this disease. I am very frustrated that I just heard of this disease today because this has been going on for such a long time and nobody suspected anything with the liver including me. i’m not sure if syringe feeding a very small dose of the milk thistle extract was a smart idea but I really am becoming desperate and just want him to feel better. my best solution was to reach out to my veterinarian and ask for more fluid therapy nutrient syringes (since this is what seemed to work last time when we thought he had parasites). is there any other advice that any of you have for this disease? does anybody know how long or how severe things can get in a matter of the month span that he has been having these symptoms? I am really scared for a sudden death or for things to escalate even more. Please give me your input as I await the vets response.
 

Tom

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Hello, I have posted an earlier thread on my concerns about my golden Greek tortoise. in this thread I think that I have found out what the actual problem with him is. I noticed that his skin was looking a bit yellow today so I looked up why is my tortoises skin yellow and one of the main signs was liver failure. I looked up other symptoms of liver disease and such and he matched all the symptoms. I have been feeding my pet tortoise peas for years because I had been told that it’s very good for him and he absolutely loves them. Apparently peas affect the liver and causes fatty liver disease and my tort is now paying the price for being fed it quite frequently over the past nine years. mind you, he never had any problems AT ALL before this. The entire thing was very sudden which is a clear sign of fatty liver disease. I am almost 100% positive that if I were to get my tort tested the results would most likely diagnose with fatty liver disease as all the symptoms match perfectly. I saw on a different thread that liver failure can sometimes be helped by milk thistle extract. my attempt to relieve some of the pain for my tortoise was to buy some of that and dilute it with water. I syringe fed a small amount to him due to the fact that he did not eat anything today or much of anything the day before either. it’s been a roller coaster of feeling better and feeling worse over the past four months and I am desperate for advice on this disease. I am very frustrated that I just heard of this disease today because this has been going on for such a long time and nobody suspected anything with the liver including me. i’m not sure if syringe feeding a very small dose of the milk thistle extract was a smart idea but I really am becoming desperate and just want him to feel better. my best solution was to reach out to my veterinarian and ask for more fluid therapy nutrient syringes (since this is what seemed to work last time when we thought he had parasites). is there any other advice that any of you have for this disease? does anybody know how long or how severe things can get in a matter of the month span that he has been having these symptoms? I am really scared for a sudden death or for things to escalate even more. Please give me your input as I await the vets response.
This not a common thing. I can't recall anyone on this forum ever having this problem and I've never seen it personally either. This being the case, I have no experience based advice to offer. I feed mine some peas a few times per year, and I also feed them milk thistle leaves.

I'm sorry you are having this issue. Seems like good hydration will help a problem like this, especially if he's not eating. If it were me, I'd soak daily.
 

KarenSoCal

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Hello, I have posted an earlier thread on my concerns about my golden Greek tortoise. in this thread I think that I have found out what the actual problem with him is. I noticed that his skin was looking a bit yellow today so I looked up why is my tortoises skin yellow and one of the main signs was liver failure.
Hi, and welcome to the forum!

I don't know about torts developing fatty liver disease, and I've never heard of it happening. But your research sounds thorough, and it certainly seems like a possible diagnosis.

I can only offer some insight on fatty liver disease in people. I was just diagnosed with NASH, which is a fancy acronym for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. I had no symptoms at all. My case is mild, with no scarring, which is important in the long term outlook for FLD. With extensive scarring, the liver really can't rejuvenate itself, and after long term damage (years) the next stage is cirrhosis.

With mild disease like mine, a lot of the fat in the liver can be removed by diet. I'm currently on a "liver shrinking" diet for 8 days, prescribed by a well known and respected surgeon in our area.

The diet is restrictive, and I don't know how you could fit it in with a tort's nutritional needs. It is very high protein, low carb and low fat. I eat the exact same thing every day for 8 days. Hopefully, my liver will have lots less fat in it and be smaller at the end of the 8 days.

I'm inclined to think that if you stop giving him any fat, this problem may go away on its own, as long as permanent damage has not happened. The liver is quite good at repairing itself once the toxin is stopped.

This is just my thoughts...I really don't know re' tort livers. If it was me, I'd just wait a while and give him time to heal. And do extra, long soaks...hydration is important, for humans too. I must drink at least 64 oz of water a day.

I hope your tort feels better soon!
 

avasims

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Joined
Apr 15, 2022
Messages
40
Location (City and/or State)
rogers minnesota
Hello, I have posted an earlier thread on my concerns about my golden Greek tortoise. in this thread I think that I have found out what the actual problem with him is. I noticed that his skin was looking a bit yellow today so I looked up why is my tortoises skin yellow and one of the main signs was liver failure. I looked up other symptoms of liver disease and such and he matched all the symptoms. I have been feeding my pet tortoise peas for years because I had been told that it’s very good for him and he absolutely loves them. Apparently peas affect the liver and causes fatty liver disease and my tort is now paying the price for being fed it quite frequently over the past nine years. mind you, he never had any problems AT ALL before this. The entire thing was very sudden which is a clear sign of fatty liver disease. I am almost 100% positive that if I were to get my tort tested the results would most likely diagnose with fatty liver disease as all the symptoms match perfectly. I saw on a different thread that liver failure can sometimes be helped by milk thistle extract. my attempt to relieve some of the pain for my tortoise was to buy some of that and dilute it with water. I syringe fed a small amount to him due to the fact that he did not eat anything today or much of anything the day before either. it’s been a roller coaster of feeling better and feeling worse over the past four months and I am desperate for advice on this disease. I am very frustrated that I just heard of this disease today because this has been going on for such a long time and nobody suspected anything with the liver including me. i’m not sure if syringe feeding a very small dose of the milk thistle extract was a smart idea but I really am becoming desperate and just want him to feel better. my best solution was to reach out to my veterinarian and ask for more fluid therapy nutrient syringes (since this is what seemed to work last time when we thought he had parasites). is there any other advice that any of you have for this disease? does anybody know how long or how severe things can get in a matter of the month span that he has been having these symptoms? I am really scared for a sudden death or for things to escalate even more. Please give me your input as I await the vets response.
here is the research i found : https://cdn.ymaws.com/members.arav.org/resource/resmgr/Files/Proceedings_1997/1997_16.pdf


Edited to fix link
 
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KarenSoCal

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Very interesting article!

So, stop feeding any fat. Depending on what kind of beans you've been feeding him, they could also be a culprit.

And soak, soak, soak 🛁

You could also consider printing the article and showing it to the vet if you are using a regular vet. If you have an exotics vet, then hopefully he/she knows how to diagnose and treat this...take the article with you just in case.

I'm sending prayers that you can get your dear tortoise feeling great! Keep in mind that torts heal slowly, and liver disease heals even more slowly.
 
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