Autopsy results: Hepatic lipidosis. Anyone more info?

[aeolis23]

After my male temporalis (WC) died of illness, I brought him to the vet for an autopsy. Extra lab tests on his liver lead tot the conclusion of hepatic lipidosis which probably lead to liver failure and his death. I was wondering if someone could give me more info about this issue in chameleons?

What can cause this other than a too fat diet? How can you recognise this before it's already too late (Be aware it's a pygmy chameleon…)?

 

[aeolis23]

His diet was mainly crickets. He just didn't show interest in something else, so I quit trying... He never gave me a 100% healthy impression, but we (vet etc.) couldn't find what and if something was wrong, mainly because examination is complicated with pygmies and we didn't know his age. It took about 4-5 days from the moment he was really getting sick until his (slow) death.

I weight him every now and then. The bottom curve is his weight curve (over 70 days). So he went from 3,1 - 3,8 grams (which let me think he wasn't as unhealthy as I thought). Once I saw him getting really sick, I weight him again and it had dropped to 3,5 grams.

 

[WilcoxAE]

I am sorry for your loss of the little guy but thank you for sharing this very interesting information. It almost sounds as though he already had the damage prior to you acquiring him.

How old was he when you acquired him and from where?

What did you gutload the crickets on?

 

[WilcoxAE]

Found this, http://www.anapsid.org/heplipidosis.html

 

[aeolis23]

Thanks for the link, it's a good one. If I understood correctly, they say that fatty liver isn't usually the primary cause of death? Well, it is a metabolic disorder, but it only leads to death when for some reason the chameleon stops eating? So I need to look for the reason why he might have stopped eating or didn't eat enough?

He was in my care for almost 3 months, but he's wild caught, so no idea about his age. I gutload the crickets only with the cricket food that comes in with the box I buy them in. And I just add fruit and vegetables.

Vet already told me I couldn't recognize this earlier, because he didn't look obese (right?). They only start showing some vague symptoms of illness when already 80% of the liver stopped functioning.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Found this, http://www.anapsid.org/heplipidosis.html

Here's a more in-depth look at the problem from the same writer as above (Douglas Mader DVM). This link is from Mader's text book, REPTILE MEDICINE AND SURGERY.

http://reptile-parrots.com/forums/s...-Liver-Diseases-in-Reptiles-Hepatic-Lipidosis

Sorry for your loss. It's never easy.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Thanks for the link, it's a good one. If I understood correctly, they say that fatty liver isn't usually the primary cause of death? Well, it is a metabolic disorder, but it only leads to death when for some reason the chameleon stops eating? So I need to look for the reason why he might have stopped eating or didn't eat enough?

He was in my care for almost 3 months, but he's wild caught, so no idea about his age. I gutload the crickets only with the cricket food that comes in with the box I buy them in. And I just add fruit and vegetables.

Vet already told me I couldn't recognize this earlier, because he didn't look obese (right?). They only start showing some vague symptoms of illness when already 80% of the liver stopped functioning.

My take away from the first article you read was that fatty liver disease was not usually the cause of death, but that the liver stands out as so abnormal looking, the person doing the necropsy stops looking. He is suggesting fatty liver disease is a symptom of another underlying issue, not the primary cause of death.