Milk Thistle and Omega 3

[ellie]

I joined Pets.ca sometime ago when my dachshund was diagnosed with Canine Sarcoidosis. It has been almost three years of working with vets etc to help my dachshund but to date no cure has helped. She has been on prednisone since 2011 and now has some liver problems. We have opted to take her off the prednisone and see if the liver will heal but are worried the granulomas will become worse.
We have her on Omega 3 and want to put her on Milk Thistle for her liver.
Has anyone used this for their dogs or have any suggestions. We could do an ultrasound and liver biopsy but do not want to go the evasive way at present
She is 12yrs old and our hope is to make her happy and live a fairly comfortable life.
We have exhausted all conventional drugs and even Guelph Veterinary University has no more answers or suggestions. She is a happy girl, plays and is very loving. I have not discussed the milk thistle with our vet as of yet but will do so on our next visit.

If anyone has any suggestions or used milk thistle I would be interested in hearing.

thank you

[Reg]

Hi ellie;

I haven't had any experience with Milk Thistle and Omega 3 with dogs, but I was introduced to this protocol 11 years ago for a very sick Kitten, by our vet at that time. The kitten had very severe liver problems to the point the liver was almost shut down. The vet said at the time there was not much she could do for the condition using conventional medicine other than possibly trying prednisone, and rehydrating her along with some other things I can't remember now. She asked if we would consider using alternative medicines in Missy's situation that she thought she stood a better chance of rectifying her problems using alternatives. We agreed with her, and it started our introduction into the use of Milk Thistle, Omega 3 - which was a high quality Salmon oil -, and the art of making homemade diet.

This protocol took several months due to the severity of her conditions for her to regain her health, and we still have her today even though the vet at the time thought we'd be extremely lucky if she lived to 9 or 10 years of age.

My thoughts in your circumstances would be to locate a veterinarian in your location who is qualified both in allopathic and alternative medicines, and explain your problems and your thoughts of what you'd like to try. See if they could come up with a protocol using Milk Thistle and Omega 3, and weaning the dog off the prednisone. This would be best set up by a professional due to the fact that there is a wide range in the qualities of Milk Thistle and Omega 3 from one manufacturer to another, and they would be better qualified for setting up the portions to be used.

I still use Milk Thistle as a liver cleanse a couple of times a year on Missy.

I hope this information will be of some value making up your mind. Do keep us informed on how things are going.

[ellie]

Thank you so much Reg, I really appreciate your feed back.
I am going to talk to my vet but I am not sure what she will think of the milk thistle as she does not appear to be into holistic drugs.
We are currently weaning Maggie off the prednisone and keeping her on the Omega 3. We are hoping that the granulomas from the Sarcoidosis do not become worse when she is off the prednisone and if things go well we are to re evaluate her liver again in September via blood tests.
I will talk to my vet very soon but also will take up your suggestion of finding a vet close by who deals with holistic measures. Our vet is a great vet and has tried very hard with out much success.
Thank you again for your in put, it is very much appreciated.