Do bacterial infections play a role in some liver diseases of cats?
Prospective evaluation for bacterial infection in hepatic tissue and bile of cats with diffuse hepatobiliary disease. Mark P. Rondeau, DVM, DACVIM; Megan J. Morgan, VMD; Allyson Berent, DVM; Shelley C. Rankin, PhD; Tom Van Winkle, VMD, DACVP; Frances S. Shofer, PhD. University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia, PA. Inflammatory liver diseases as a group are the second most common type of liver disease in cats. There is some evidence that bacterial infection causes this class of disease, but that fact has not been clearly proved. The goal of this study is to evaluate whether bacterial infection of the liver and/or bile is more common in cats with inflammatory liver disease than in cats with other types of liver disease or normal cats. Cats presenting to our hospital with evidence of liver disease when a liver biopsy is recommended will be enrolled. Liver biopsy and gall bladder bile samples will be obtained from all cats. Both samples will be examined by a path
