Can fatty liver cause death?

[briannalee]

I had to say goodbye to my Mika yesterday. She was my girl for 8 years. I’m really struggling with my decision to let her go. She was very rapidly losing weight, she was an overweight girl to start with, her weight was around 3.1kg, within a couple months she was down to 2kg. I do wonder if the hormonal implant which she had all her life had anything to do with her weight, although it did save her from many egg issues. Her crop was working very slowly, she stopped pooping anything except bile and some foods that were completely undigested which she hadn’t even had for weeks, she became very fatigued in the last couple of days. Still had her bright moments and loved her food. I don’t think she was ready to go just yet and it’s eating me alive. Vet did an autopsy today and this is how her liver looked, would you say this is severe enough to cause all these problems and was there anything I could have done or was it too far gone? Vet said he suspects cancer, does it look like cancer or just fatty liver?

Thank you

 

[DLA]

I'm very sorry for your loss. Not sure from the picture but at 8, I would think it could have been one or both as the cause. I'm sure you gave her a good life. From what you described as her condition, I think you made the right choice to let her go. Again, sorry for your loss. https://poultrydvm.com/condition/fatty-liver-syndrome

 

[cavemanrich]

All I can suggest is focus on the LUV you enjoyed over the 8 years you had her.
You gave her the best chances to get this far.


WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[coach723]

It does look like cancer. I'm very sorry for your loss.
8 years is a pretty good life for many laying hens. It is always a difficult decision deciding if it's time or not. Rest assured that you prevented her from having to suffer unnecessarily.

 

[briannalee]

It does look like cancer. I'm very sorry for your loss.
8 years is a pretty good life for many laying hens. It is always a difficult decision deciding if it's time or not. Rest assured that you prevented her from having to suffer unnecessarily.

I get confused because I thought cancer on liver is more like white/cream bumps. Cancer would make me feel more at peace, because what it looks like to me (fatty liver) makes me think this all could have been prevented if I did things differently years ago. thank you so much

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry to hear about your hen.

I agree, to me it looks like cancer as well.


https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/fatty-liver-haemorrhagic-syndrome

 

[coach723]

I've lost birds with cancer, as well as fatty liver disease. With fatty liver, if that's all that's going on, the liver will be pale, an obviously wrong color, and brittle (the correct term is friable), not usually lesions. When you see lesions like that, it's cancer. It's possible for a bird to have both, and it's hard to say which came first. Just like with humans, having large amounts of adipose fat can contribute to all kinds of illness, including cancer. Reproductive cancers can spread to the liver, and some virus's can cause cancer that affects the liver.