Determination of the relationship between ultrasonographic findings of the fatty liver and obesity assessment measurement parameters in cats in different body conditions

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to determine the relationship between ultrasonographic examination of fatty liver and obesity assessment parameters in cats of different body conditions. Material and Methods: The study material consisted of 27 cats in different body conditions, who were brought to the university animal hospital for control and did not have any systemic health problems. In the study, the body condition score, body fat index, subcutaneous adipous tissue layer thickness, hepatorenal index and liver fattening degree of animals were examined. Body condition score and body fat index by inspection and palpation; Subcutaneous fat layer thickness, hapatorenal index and hepatic steatosis were determined by ultrasound. The obtained data were analyzed statistically with the IBM® SPSS Statistics V22.0 (New York, USA) package program. Results: In the first stage of the study, the relationship between parameters on the basis of all individuals (n:27) was examined. As a result, a significant positive correlation was found between body condition score and body fat index, subcutaneous fat layer thickness and liver fattening degree, respectively (p<0.001). In addition, a positive significant correlation was found between hepatorenal index and the thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer and the degree of liver fattening, respectively (p<0.001). Then, the individuals were divided into three groups according to their body conditions, and it was checked whether there was any difference between these groups in terms of subcutaneous layer thickness, hepatorenal index and liver fattening degree. There was a significant difference between the groups (p<0.05). Conclusions: From the data obtained, it was thought that increasing body condition score and body fat index values increased the risk of fatty liver in cats, and that hepatorenal index could be an alternative tool to the subjective ultrasonographic method in determining the degree of fatty liver.