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Cholesterol And Your Friends

We Villagers are all familiar by now with “good” and “bad” cholesterol and the long term effects of both kinds. If you are not as yet familiar with these terms, just wait another ten years and you will become an expert. We all watch our cholesterol in the foods we eat. Judging from the many surgical scars I see down at the Nat, quite a few of you are now on restricted cholesterol diets. Our canine and feline friends , as they age, can develop some problems with cholesterol . They can even experience “hardening of the arteries” (atherosclerosis). In the last three years I have seen an increased interest in those conditions in our aged friends. So here is the very latest in both canine (dog) and feline (cat) veterinary internal medicine on the subject.

LIPIDS: These are the fats in your friends’ systems that are necessary for the normal functions of the body. These lipids (fats) come from the fats in your friends’ meals. These fats cross through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream in various forms after being digested. These fats are either stored as fat (hopefully , not to excess!) or used as energy. (Walks after meals can shift more to this use). There are two basic categories of fats, triglycerides and cholesterol. Triglycerides are the most abundant type of lipid in dogs and cats and are called VLDL, Very Low Density Lipoproteins.

A portion of these are further broken down into LDL, Low Density Lipoproteins. Cholesterol is used for energy transport in the cell membranes and is needed for hormone production, vitamin creation (in your canine friends) and bile acids (used in digestion).

Cholesterols are called HDL or High Density Lipoproteins. Both types are needed for energy processes.  The processes which use them are complex and detailed beyond the space in this article. Simply said, they are very necessary, in essential amounts, for the normal functioning of the body.  In humans, the LDL is more important. In our canine and feline friends, HDL is more important (factoid). An excess of  fat in your friends’ bloodstream is called hyperlipidemia, or high amounts of  fat. This condition occurs normally after each of the one or more meals and fatty treats of the day. Of course, a high amount of  fat in the system cannot all be utilized or stored immediately, so it circulates. If a blood sample is drawn after a meal (post prandial), your friends’ blood sample will have a layer of  fat in it that looks like the cream that used to be on milk. This is called  primary, or postprandial hyperlipidemia. ( I did not make this up) A blood sample drawn from your friend after a twelve hour fast should have no fat in it. If it  is lipemic (fat-containing), it may indicate a medical problem. If the high fat level is due to a disease, it is called secondary hyperlipidemia. Diseases that can cause a fasting blood sample to contain a significant amount of fat are:

Diabetes Mellitus (sugar diabetes) in both your feline and canine friends. In your canine friends only: hypothyroidism (low thyroid hormone), hyperadrenalcorticism (Cushing disease), and protein-losing nephropathy (filtering or absorbing deficiency in the kidney). There also appears to be a correlation between long term obesity in your friends and hyperlipidemia, leading to one of the above conditions. Of course, we vigilant Villagers who read our medical articles all know that being overweight and not exercising enough can lead to most of these conditions. So common sense tells us that the same can occur in our friends . There is also a connection between friends that have recurrent pancreatitis, usually from food intolerance or overeating, and hyperlipidemia . It is also possible that  high levels of fats in the body from overeating for years can produce pancreatitis. However, I believe the most common cause of pancreatitis to be simply from indigestion rising from overeating or eating the wrong foods. You may remember that the pancreas contributes to the proper breakdown or digestion of the fats in the meal. An overworked or under-producing pancreas can ultimately be damaged by high fat levels in the blood over a long period of time.  There are some very rare inherited causes of this disease. More common is the occurrence of hyperlipidemia in miniature schnauzers, generally in later life. Veterinary researchers have not discovered the exact cause of this, but it is quite common in older miniature schnauzers. You may not observe any symptoms in your friends from this disease in the early stages. Normally , the condition is discovered during routine blood tests. Rarely, a condition of  fat globules in the eye sometimes are seen during an eye exam (lipemia retinalis). A very rare lump on the skin ( xanthoma) can occur. Seizures and disorientation can also occur from excessive fat in the bloodstream. Atherosclerosis , or hardening of the arteries can occur. This condition would only be diagnosed at autopsy.

So what can a Villager do to avoid this condition in your friends? Watch the calories and the fats. There are some new and very fancy low cholesterol diets. The simplest one substitutes soy protein for animal protein. The lowering of the blood fat level seems to help . There is a liquid/powdered liver “booster” supplement that helps a lot. Exercise as much as can be tolerated. I realize that many of our golden seniors (our friends) cannot take long walks anymore. Any exercise will help . Annual checkup and blood tests catch problems early . Very simple. Common sense. Very easy to do. Give your friends a hug for me.

DR. BOB

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