Here at My Pet Nutritionist, we love to take an in-depth look at all organs and systems within the body in an approach to overall health and well-being in pets. As part of our mission to help pet owners keep their pets in the best health possible, some of our blog posts are designed to target one specific part of the body – this blog post take a deep dive into everything liver! Learn what the liver is, what it does, common complaints we see within our customer base, and how to support the liver through diet and lifestyle changes!
Liver Structure
The liver is the largest internal organ in the body. It is found inside the ribcage of dogs and cats, just below the diaphragm, and while it is a rough triangle-type shape, it is soft, and takes the impression of the surrounding organs including the gallbladder, stomach, pancreas duodenum and the right kidney. It is a large organ, and consists of 6 lobes. Each lobe is made up of many ‘hepatic lobules’, and each lobule holds a large number of blood filled, sac-like cavities called sinusoids. Due to this structure, the liver is a spongey texture, and is able to hold large amounts of blood, which gives the organ a deep red colour.
There are two ways fluids travel into the liver; both major blood vessels! The first, known as the Portal Vein takes nutrient rich blood from the gastrointestinal tract into the liver, however this vessel also brings the not-so-beneficial products of chemicals and drugs into the liver too! The other major vessel is called the Hepatic Artery, which delivers oxygen rich blood from the heart and lungs, into the liver.
Just like routes into the liver, there are two ‘exits’ too! Hepatic Veins carry blood out of the liver, whereas the Bile Ducts take bile (a yellow coloured digestive substance made in the liver, and stored in the gallbladder) out of the liver, and into the gallbladder.
The liver can also self-regenerate if it is compromised through trauma!’
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What Does the Liver Do?
The liver has many major functions within the body, affecting various aspects of health. Let’s take a look at these:
- Bile Production: the liver plays an enormous role in digestion. It produces bile, a yellow coloured digestive juice, which is absolutely essential for the digestion of fats in the small intestine and nutrient absorption.
- Metabolism: the liver’s role in metabolism includes breaking down protein, fat and carbohydrates in order for the body to be able to use them as energy. The energy gained through this metabolic process is stored in the liver as glycogen which is released when required. Vitamins and minerals are also stored by the liver, and inactive forms of these are made active.
- Blood Detoxification: the liver is the body’s very own toxin removal system! When there are unwanted substances in the blood, the liver removes them from the body. As part of this function, the liver also breaks down any medications in order to eliminate the toxins.
- Filtration from digestive tract: not only does the liver filter the blood for toxins, but it also filters blood from the digestive tract.
- Blood Clotting: the liver is home to a variety of proteins which clot blood. These proteins include various coagulation factors, fibrinogen, and prothrombin.
- Immune aid: the liver plays a role in the immune system too! Some essential proteins and enzymes used in the immune system are produced in the liver.
- Blood storage: finally, due to the liver’s texture and storage capacity in the sinusoids, it is excellent for storage of blood which it releases if required.
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Common Liver Complaints
Many of our customers come to us for help with their dog’s liver problems. We have helped to support those with a wide range of liver complaints over the years. Some of the most common complaints we see are:
- Liver Disease: liver disease has many possible underlying causes including genetics, hepatitis, liver tumours, infections or toxin exposure, including from medications and some plants. Liver disease can have a lot of knock on effects on the body including disturbances in filtering toxins, difficulties storing nutrients, and reduced digestive capabilities. Symptoms include increased thirst (polydipsia) and urination (polyuria), vomiting, reduced appetite, rapid weight loss, and jaundice (yellowing of the skin). Diagnosis is sought via a combination of blood test, imaging, and sometimes biopsy of the liver to discover the underlying cause.
- Liver Shunts: clinically, these are referred to as portosystemic shunts. Dogs with liver shunts have abnormal blood vessels which bypass the liver, meaning the liver cannot perform it’s job of filtration of, or nutrient metabolism from the blood efficiently. Liver shunts can be congenital defects (present from birth), or caused by some types of liver disease. Symptoms of liver shunts include vomiting, diarrhoea, hypersalivation, stunted growth, reduced coordination, seizures, and behavioural changes. Blood tests and imaging (including ultrasound and CT scans) are used to diagnose a liver shunt.
- Hepatitis: this condition is a chronic inflammatory condition in the liver, often caused by infection, toxin exposure, or immune dysfunction. There are various types of hepatitis, the most infectious one being Adenovirus Type 1 which is potentially life-threatening! Fever, lethargy, vomiting, jaundice, and enlarged liver are all common symptoms of hepatitis. Lifelong liver damage can occur depending on the severity of infection. To diagnose this condition, imaging, blood tests and often liver biopsies are performed.
- Liver Cancer: liver cancer can be classed as ‘primary’ in which the abnormal cells originate inside the liver itself, or ‘metastatic’ where the abnormal cells spread from other parts of the body. Reduced appetite, weight loss bloating and lethargy are the initial symptoms one can expect, and these may not be clearly linked to liver cancer. More advanced symptoms of liver cancer are those of liver failure. Biopsies, imaging and blood tests are used to diagnose the condition.
- Acute Liver Failure: the term ‘acute’ refers to conditions which happen suddenly, and severely. Acute liver failure causes a sudden decline in liver function, which causes further infection throughout the body due to lack of toxin filtration and removal from the bloodstream, infections and autoimmune disorders. Ultimately, acute liver failure can lead to multiple organ failure. Acute live is a life-threatening condition, and swift diagnosis via biopsy, imaging and bloodwork is incredibly important.
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Herbs to Support the Liver
There are a number of liver-friendly adaptogenic herbs and nutrients. We have a fantastic high quality supplement packed full of these liver boosting herbs; Liver Guard. The herbs and nutrients most beneficial to supporting the liver include:
- Milk thistle (silymarin): milk thistle is a powerful herb used frequently in liver support. It contains three chemical compounds called Silychristine, Silydianin and Silybin; when together, these three compounds make the collective term ‘Silymarin’. Silymarin is an antioxidant which reduces free radicals in the body, especially targeting liver health. Studies show that Milk Thistle/Silymarin can help the liver flush out harmful toxins from medications etc.
- Taurine: taurine is an important nutrient our readers may have heard of before. Not only is it beneficial for eye and heart health, but it also greatly benefits the liver by improving metabolism and bile production in the liver. In turn, it aids the liver’s ability to filter and detoxify blood, reduces blood cholesterol, and reduces oxidative stress.
- Choline: this important nutrient plays an essential role in fat and cholesterol metabolism, and helps to prevent the build up of fatty acids in the liver.
- Dandelion root: most will have heard of, or seen dandelions in the spring and summer – the roots of these plants are very beneficial to the liver. As a supplement, dandelion root is known for it’s ability to stimulate bile production in the liver, as well as stimulating production of other important liver enzymes.
- Burdock root: as one of the liver’s main functions is to filter blood of toxins, those with liver problems may find this function requires a little support. Burdock root directly aids this process!
- Artichoke: another plant with liver supporting qualities is the artichoke. This also stimulates bile production, is rich in antioxidants, and may aid the liver in it’s role in detoxification. It is also possible that artichoke leaf extract may support liver regeneration when damaged!
- Curcumin: the active compound found in turmeric, curcumin, is a powerful antioxidant, which aids liver health as it is protected from oxidative stress. Curcumin has been known to reduce effects of heavy metals on the liver, and also aids bile production.
- Co-Enzyme Q10 (CoQ10): while many of the aforementioned herbs and nutrients support fat and cholesterol metabolism, CoQ10 aids carbohydrate metabolism. It’s main role though, is as a powerful antioxidant to help keep the liver free from oxidative stress.
- Vitamin B9 Methyl Folate: Methylated Vitamin B9 helps to support cell function in the liver as it is involved in DNA synthesis. It also aids the formation of red blood cells, and protects the liver due to it’s antioxidant qualities.
- B12 Methyl Cobalamin: Methylated Vitamin B12 not only helps cell reproduction in the liver, but it also supports the methionine cycle where it aids the synthesis of proteins as those in the liver begin to degrade. It also has a lipotropic effect whereby it is excellent at reducing fat in the liver.
If your dog is suffering with a liver shunt, we would recommend booking a consultation with our team before embarking on any dietary or supplementary journeys as it can be a bit trickier to deal with, requiring 1-2-1 help!
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Other Liver Support
As well as various adaptogenic herbs as listed above, there are other changes we can make to our dog’s diet and lifestyle to help support the liver, such as:
- Diet: feeding your pet a fresh diet, whether that is raw or lightly cooked using one of our liver friendly low fat recipes, means you are fully in control of the nutrients entering your dog’s body – these can be tailored to specifically target liver health. Fresh food offers easy digestibility of protein in the food, which is ideal to take the strain off the liver. Feeding a small amount of fresh plant matter can also reduce ammonia production which supports liver health. Being able to control the amount of protein in the diet of those with liver issues is also important, and easy to achieve with fresh feeding, because feeding too much protein can contribute to toxin build up in these dogs. Another benefit of fresh feeding over feeding a commercially prepared dry food diet, is the low carbohydrate content. Carbohydrates are in abundance in dry foods, and they can negatively impact liver health as it will be unable to regulate the glucose in the high carbohydrate food.
- Stop use of flea and worm treatments: flea and worm treatments are unfortunately full of toxins which can massively affect the liver and it’s health/function. Drug-induced liver problems are something we see frequently. These toxins not only damage the liver but can also lead to a host of other health issues including neurological issues, digestive issues and more. You can learn more about exposure to toxins and the link with reduced health here and here.
- Only use medications where necessary: of course, we can rarely go through life avoiding ALL medications, but sometimes we are prescribed medications without a diagnosis, or without a proper analysis or discussion with the vet. It is ever so important to ensure that any medications being prescribed are both correct for the issue in hand, and are absolutely necessary. Being cautious in this respect allows for the liver to not be strained by unnecessary drug use.
- Avoid unnecessary vaccination: in our blog about vaccinosis in pets, it is clear that nearly every aspect of health in pets can be affected by the overuse of vaccinations. While many pet parents do choose to give a basic course of vaccinations in the pet’s early years, it is important to evaluate the risks of giving these frequently throughout the rest of the pet’s life, as vaccinosis can occur. The liver is one of many organs affected by over-vaccinations due to the strain placed upon it following injection of adjuvants in vaccinations. Bacterial vaccines such as leptospirosis may increase the risk of strain on the liver, and according to the MSD Veterinary Manual, if a Bordatella vaccine is accidentally given subcutaneously, the impact on the liver can be huge.
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Your dog’s liver health is incredibly important – do you include any of these methods of support to your pooch’s lifestyle or nutritional regime? If you are concerned about your pet’s liver health, always contact your veterinarian for testing and diagnosing. We would love to help you following a diagnosis if you feel you require additional liver help! Book in with one of our team to chat about how you could support your pet’s liver!
Team MPN x
