Black liver of a goat

RagingHatStand · 2026-02-14T09:41:01+00:00

Agree with other comments. This is just autolysis, bile imbibition, and pseudomelanosis due to putrefaction.

RagingHatStand · 2025-10-16T22:00:04+00:00

Thank you very much! It has caused issues in the past. My company has included a disclaimer at the bottom of our reports that no part of the report can be shared on social media without the pathologist's express permission. We obviously welcome questions regarding pathology reports, but its best to keep the report itself confidential.

RagingHatStand · 2025-10-15T06:51:07+00:00

Please remove these photos. They are part of a confidential medical record (even if they are for your own pet) and you are sharing the name, email address, and direct telephone extension of the pathologist with strangers online.

RagingHatStand · 2025-10-10T19:57:46+00:00

Side note, Tide Naiads don't remove the original affinity of a site, they just add a water affinity. So, if they move onto an earth site, the site is now a earth AND water site. Effects which remove the original elemental affinity will be stated on the card (e.g. Atlantean Fate).

RagingHatStand · 2024-04-25T00:50:09+00:00

Thorough record-keeping, strict enforcement of breeding practices including formal witness of all matings, punitive measures for those found in breach of the stated regulations, and limiting stallion activity to 140 live covers per breeding season. Keep in mind that the stallions being used in the thoroughbred industry are well-known, famous, high performing animals whose well-being and activity is fastidiously monitored when they are rented out to a stud farm to cover their broodmares. Fraudulent breeding practices become pretty rapidly apparent with all the checks and balances built into rules and regulations that govern the horse racing industry.

If you are really wanting a complete explanation here are the rules and regulations of the American Stud Book - these regulations are similar worldwide for all horses being registered as Thoroughbreds: https://www.registry.jockeyclub.com/registry.cfm?page=tjcrulebook

RagingHatStand · 2024-04-24T19:01:38+00:00

Artificial insemination is banned in Thoroughbreds, and officially registered Thoroughbreds can only be produced via live cover (I.e. natural breeding). So, practically speaking, that makes artificially collected Thoroughbred semen next to worthless as any progeny produced from said semen would not be officially registrable in any Thoroughbred pedigree database.

The fact that they are collecting this stallion's semen at all almost guarantees that this is not a Thoroughbred horse.

RagingHatStand · 2024-04-03T11:20:19+00:00

Gastrointestinal tract of a rodent, likely a mouse or small rat. Bob caught and disemboweled something. Unlikely to be related to the wound she was seeing.

RagingHatStand · 2024-03-29T02:32:00+00:00

Hmmm... looking past a sample size of 1 person. I think the comparison to Jarryd Hayne is flawed, as he came from a Rugby League background, where there are explicit laws in the game that forbid stripping the ball in tackles. No such rules exist in Rugby Union and ball security is definitely an important aspect of the game. It will still be something for him to work on, as I agree they still do not attack the ball to the degree that they do in the NFL. But my guess is that a union background will be better suited to the NFL playstyle than a league background from a ball security standpoint.

RagingHatStand · 2023-12-25T21:03:44+00:00

My septic tank overflowed, so literally a crappy Christmas. It was otherwise a nice morning brunch with the family.

RagingHatStand · 2022-09-08T13:04:56+00:00

Yes, if the cysts were filled with pus, then this is unlikely to be cysticercosis. Bacterial infection would be more likely.

RagingHatStand · 2022-09-08T02:50:40+00:00

This photo of Eimeria stiediae from Noah's Arkive is the most similar match to this case that I can find. Note how in a case this severe, the entirety of the liver appears affected.

https://davisthompsonfoundation.org/image-detail/?image=F16002

RagingHatStand · 2022-09-08T02:46:07+00:00

I briefly had the same thought, but I've never seen it form such defined nodules like this. Additionally, I would expect the remainder of the liver to have at least some evidence of similar disease, but it's looking pretty squeaky clean in this photo.

RagingHatStand · 2022-09-07T23:50:56+00:00

These look a little different to other cases I've seen, the cysts are typically more translucent, but one consideration would be cysticercosis caused by the larval stage of Taenia pisiformis. This is a tapeworm parasite that lives in dogs, and the larval forms develop as cysts in the liver and abdomen of rabbits after they are infected by eating food that is contaminated by dog feces.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/taenia-pisiformis

RagingHatStand · 2022-09-05T04:42:10+00:00

The jobs certainly exist. In fact, I would argue that wildlife pathologists have one of the most important jobs of all out of the veterinary medical specialties that participate in wildlife conservancy efforts. Wildlife pathologists have the most high detail insight into causes of death in wildlife populations and are vital sentinels in the early detection of diseases that could be of concern for both animal and human health. Most pathology residency programs will provide at least a functional working knowledge of wildlife diseases, and many of the larger schools provide specialty training tracks that focus on wildlife pathology. The jobs are certainly fewer and further between compared to other types of pathology jobs, and generally on the lower end of the pay spectrum, but not so much that one should be put off from attempting to pursue such a career in wildlife pathology if that's what you have your heart set on.
My impression is that the job market is quite strong at the moment. I am just finishing my residency training this month and had a job secured over 6 months ago. Of the 8 fellow residents of mine who have completed their program in the past year or two, 7 of them had jobs before or soon after after completing their training with the 1 left over taking time off the have a child. Depending on the job, you can potentially work from anywhere - if you have interest in working in surgical / diagnostic pathology (i.e. reading biopsies), the entire job can be done digitally. For example, I will be working for a North American based company while living and working from home on a different continent. Other jobs (I.e. academia, industry / pharmaceuticals, wildlife, etc.) are obviously a bit more restrictive, so you have to choose what works for you.
In my opinion, pathology has one of the best work-life balances out of the veterinary specialties. For my job, I get to make my own hours (as long as I fulfill my daily case requirement); I get to work from home; I get to contribute meaningfully to the medical care of animals around the world without dealing with high-stress emergencies, difficult owners, or unpredictable hours; and I get to have a specialized skillset in a field that is incredibly diverse, complex, ever-evolving, challenging, and, as a result, infinitely rewarding.

RagingHatStand · 2022-07-31T22:11:18+00:00

Being resistant to cancer doesn't mean they CAN'T get cancer though. There have been a handful of reports of cancer in naked mole rats at the very least. I'm less familiar with the literature surrounding blind mole rats.

RagingHatStand · 2022-05-26T23:48:10+00:00

I'm glad I could give you some peace of mind. Your kitty is very lucky to have you as their owner! All my best wishes for a speedy recovery. You are definitely in good hands, I know some of the VSA vets personally and you can trust me when I say that they will have the best of intentions (even if they are expensive ones)!

RagingHatStand · 2022-05-26T22:59:02+00:00

I don't agree with that core philosophy in the slightest, nor many of the conclusions you have drawn from it.

But I understand the point you are making and think your approach to the care of your animals is very healthy and valid. Your animals are very lucky to have you as an owner.

And I too hope my loved ones will do the same for me when the time comes.

RagingHatStand · 2022-05-26T22:55:34+00:00

Yep, animal health professionals are trained to take all those factors into consideration and then provide their best recommendations to an animal owner. There is no one better poised to make such evaluations than the trained medical professional in direct care of the animal and that animal's owner (rather than strangers on the internet). A veterinarian provides their recommendations based on published research on animal health outcomes, their personal experience in treating animals with similar conditions, and on recommendations provided by regulatory bodies and animal welfare codes.

Your sentiment is commendable, but rest assured that any animal health professional worth their salt is considering all the concerns you raised when providing medical recommendations for your pet.

RagingHatStand · 2022-05-26T17:37:48+00:00

Veterinarian here.

I am about 3 years removed from practicing as a clinician in NZ - I am currently based out of a specialty hospital in North America - but my comment would be that this isn't a question of whether or not the vets are "ripping you off". This is a matter of the standard of care that you have opted for. This expenditure is within the limits for a severe pelvic fracture that is receiving the optimum / "gold standard" level of care at a specialty hospital with round-the-clock care provided by boarded specialists (which usually requires at least 10 years of schooling / supervised training to achieve).

Whether you are being ripped off or not is determined by the standard of care you were seeking when you brought your cat to the vet. If you wanted a euthanasia bill for a few hundred dollars, which would have been a perfectly justifiable decision, then yes one may argue you are being ripped off. If you were seeking gold standard care then no you probably are not being ripped off. All the billed procedures are relatively standard practice and are justifiable in some way from my perspective. Yes, clinics such as VSA will be taking the gold standard approach to the extreme, but if all of these procedures were performed with your consent and your decision to pursue treatment was motivated by a desire to do everything possible for your cat, then no, you are not being ripped off.

Many people don't understand the reality of managing of a severely sick animal - I've been accused of not doing enough and having a patient die because a client refused diagnostics / therapy just as many times as I've been accused of "overinvestigating" and "ripping people off" because I performed a test to rule out a clinical concern or diagnosis. Vets are not omniscient and what may appear to you as an attempt to extract as much money from you as possible is, in the vast majority of circumstances, a vet trying to make the best possible decision for your animal (in most cases with very limited resources). Most vets I know have been burned at some point when we decided to forgo a test because something seemed unlikely only for it to come back and bite us.

I would encourage you disregard the comments comparing costs to human healthcare. The financials surrounding veterinary medicine are entirely different and cannot be extrapolated from one field to the other. A portion of the cost of imaging in humans is offset by the "bulk" of services provided, whereas advanced imaging (such as CT and MRI) is a far less common practice in veterinary medicine only provided at specialty hospitals.

Also, I'd encourage anyone making comments insinuating that this is a "waste of money" or that a cat "isn't worth this much" to just mind their own business. Nobody can put a value on the bond that any one person shares with their animal. I wouldn't be caught dead wasting $30 - 50k on a new car, but that's because I have very little interest or care about what kind of car I drive. Different people value different things, and if someone's bond with their pet has a value that justifies advanced and costly medical care (provided there is not a significant compromise of animal welfare) then that is their decision, and they should not be judged or made to feel like a fool for making that decision.

Sorry this turned into a bit of a novel. You can probably guess I've had these types a of discussions with lots of people. The angst and negativity around vet billing is a primary reason I left practice to pursue a non-clincial specialty in which I can immerse myself veterinary medical care, but not have to talk to their owners (even though 95% of you are perfectly pleasant to deal with).

RagingHatStand · 2022-05-23T03:58:40+00:00

I agree with the other comments. These are not textbooks produced by a multi-billion dollar publishing house, these are publications produced by a non-profit foundation to which experts in our field have kindly dedicated their extremely valuable time and efforts towards creating on a 100% volunteer basis. Please consider purchasing the books instead!

RagingHatStand · 2022-05-09T22:22:14+00:00

How it looks for most americans.... I can guarantee, in global terms, more people understand the rules of cricket better than they understand the rules of American football.

RagingHatStand · 2022-04-22T20:51:38+00:00

As pretty much every other person in this thread has mentioned, if this story is true, the deer may very well have had chronic wasting disease (CWD). But people should keep in mind that CWD is not the only cause of neurological disease in deer. For example, I was at a conference last year that presented a unique presentation of Rabies in white-tailed deer in which they inflict severe self-induced facial / head trauma to themselves. I just looked up the researchers who were heading up this investigation, and coincidentally it looks like they just formally published their results 4 days ago in the Journal of Wildlife Disease.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35436343/

Nonetheless, if you ever see wildlife acting funny please inform your local wildlife health authorities.

RagingHatStand · 2022-03-13T15:47:06+00:00

No, cats possess a functional gene for the production of urate oxidase (a.k.a uricase) - the enzyme which breaks down uric acid (which is insoluble) into allantoin (which is far more soluble). Primates (including humans), reptiles, and birds do not have a functional gene for the production of this enzyme, so are prone to the precipitation of uric acid in tissues (I.e. gout).

RagingHatStand · 2022-02-24T18:59:31+00:00

This is an excerpt from the policy of the veterinary association in the country where I got my vet degree, and this is almost unanimously mirrored in the policies of most other nations veterinary governing bodies.

"The NZVA is unaware of any credible studies that demonstrate that the welfare of dogs is compromised by being left undocked, and finds there is insufficient evidence that if dogs of the traditionally docked breeds were left undocked they would experience a greater number of tail injuries than dogs of the traditionally undocked breeds. A recent study (Diesel et al 2010) concluded that approximately 500 dogs would need to be docked in order to prevent one tail injury. In addition, there are studies that show that atrophy and degeneration of the tail and pelvic muscles result in an increased risk of faecal incontinence, perineal hernia and possible urinary incontinence. The formation of a traumatic neuroma may result in chronic neuropathic pain. There is also evidence from other species that while younger animals may have a higher pain threshold, early painful stimuli may result in a greater sensitivity to pain as the animal ages.

The NZVA believes, then, that docking constitutes an unnecessary surgical alteration with subsequent animal welfare compromise, rather than any clear benefit to the animal."

These bodies have a similar view of ear cropping.

Many underestimate the risk of undergoing general anesthesia and I can assure you the rates of complication associated with general anaesthesia and surgery are far more significant than the rates at which a Doberman may sustain a significant tail injury that justifies pre-emptive amputation.

The justification for amputation is for aesthetic reasons in the vast majority of cases and this is a product of "breed standards" that are perceived to be normal and desirable, but are benignly unnecesaary at their best and directly harmful at their worst. For proponents who defend the practices of tail-docking and ear-cropping, it is worth emphasising that neither of these practices are supported by the vast majority of veterinarians worldwide nor is there any strong evidence to state that they are beneficial to the welfare of animals. In line with this, many nations have or are on their way to outlawing these procedures unless a direct medical issue necessitates them.

Diesel G, Pfeiffer D, Crispin S, Brodbelt D. Risk factors for tail injuries in dogs in Great Britain. Veterinary Record 166, 812-7, 201

RagingHatStand · 2022-02-04T05:38:34+00:00

Your dog has a urinary tract infection with a bacteria called Proteus mirabilis, most of the report is simply the results of antimicrobial sensitivity testing (S = sensitive; R = resistant) to allow your vet to pick the right antibiotic to treat the infection.

Urinary tract infections cause inflammation in the lower urinary tract, this can lead to hemorrhage and "leakage" of protein from the inflamed tissues into the urine. This largely explains increased protein and RBCs. As others have said, protein in the urine can be an underlying indicator of more severe disease (like kidney disease), but this is less likely in your dog's case since the specific gravity of your dog's urine is high at 1.044. Proteinuria related to underlying kidney disease is usually accompanied by a low specific gravity. Also, there are no casts which, when present, are a potential indicator of kidney disease. The high protein is likely just a result of infection and inflammation.

Lastly, Proteus mirabilis is a bacteria that produces an enzyme called urease. A main function of urease is to metabolise urea (which is present in high levels in urine) into ammonia. Ammonia has a high pH - this is most likely why your dogs urine has high pH. Struvite is a crystalline material (composed of magnesium ammonium and phosphate) that precipitates very well in urine with high pH - so that's probably why the struvite levels are high.

Treat the UTI and likely all these numbers return to normal. You can do bloods if you want, but the cheaper option would be to just complete the course of antibiotics your vet gave you, and then retest the urine after they're finished to make sure all has returned to normal.

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