Strange Cyst on this Roe Liver

JRoe

Well-Known Member
016.jpg024.jpg027.jpg037.jpgLet's see if any of you can shed light on this liver abnormality. I shot this old(ish) fellow last night. Seemed in good enough nick, starting to get his winter coat on. I've known him a long time and his behaviour was normal. On gralloching I found a v large cyst together with some very strange shapes on the liver. On cutting into it I found that the hard lump was full of dark almost black liquid. Also a strange orange tinge to some parts I also found 3 only of what I would describe as Fluke, free floating.However they don't resemble any Fluke I've come across before. Here's some pics - -
 
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Interesting. I've come across several cases of cysts on the liver before but none like that! Dark blood is not unusual for the liver or cyst like growths as a result of fluke but that looks particularly nasty. Did you incise the portal? What did other nodes look like? I will be interested in the opinions of the vets. If it were me I certainly would not be using either the liver or that wooden chopping board ever again! .... unless emaciated, you would not usually need to reject a carcass with fluke.
 
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Interesting. I've come across several cases of cysts on the liver before but none like that! Dark blood is not unusual for the liver or cyst like growths as a result of fluke but that looks particularly nasty. Did you incise the portal? What did other nodes look like? I will be interested in the opinions of the vets. If it were me I certainly would not be using either the liver or that wooden chopping board ever again! .... unless emaciated, you would not usually need to reject a carcass with fluke.

All nodes were fine - - I didn't incise the portal because when I cut open the cyst I had a bit of a mess to clear up pretty quickly.

I did the rest of the Liver in my usual way with strips rolled in seasoned flour then fried in butter. A wee bit tougher than usual but I'm OK so far !

JR
 
All nodes were fine - - I didn't incise the portal because when I cut open the cyst I had a bit of a mess to clear up pretty quickly.

I did the rest of the Liver in my usual way with strips rolled in seasoned flour then fried in butter. A wee bit tougher than usual but I'm OK so far !

JR
:eek: your braver than me JR. think I would of stayed on the safe side and rejected the whole carcass.
 
The beasties in the pot certainly look like fluke and the overall liver appearance is a bit mottled, not nice and smooth. I'm not surprised it was a bit chewy! (No risk to you though). I can't quite work out what the brown lumpy bit is, but I'm assuming it might be a heavily fluked liver lobe. your black fluid is probably bile as is the orange tint you report.
 
The last picture is 100% fluke.

Fluke must be involved, but that is an unusual presentation. It looks in the second picture like the portal node is enlarged.

I would 100% reject the liver. The rest of the carcase should be fine. Inverness not a big TB area, but it would be on the differentials list if down south.
 
Thanks all - - This one was so different from the odd case of fluke I've had here before, thought it was worth getting a second opinion or two. everything else, including the lungs, was fine.

It was really disgusting and I doubt if he would have survived the winter. He weighed in at only 17 kilos so maybe that had a lot to do with it too.

- - and by the way I didn't eat it - - - sorry - - my sense of humour struck again.

JR
 
Looks like a Severe case of fluke..seen it many times in sheep,the ducts are usually thickened and white by the aggravation of the fluke moving about..
 
It's surprising just how little liver they need to survive, I think it would have been OK.
Regarding thickened bile ducts - this doesn't happen much in deer, unlike cattle
 
I have seen cases like this before. If the white mass is solid and not fluid filled it can be due to tumour formation - but rare. Where it is fluid filled it is much more likely to be parasitic, either a tapeworm cysts or more commonly due to liver fluke. I think the pictures suggest the latter is the most likely.
Jimmy
vet scottishdeerproject.co.uk
 
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