has anyone here used milk thistle?

My 14.5 year old diabetic cat Petey has been very sick for the past month. I took him in to the vet for his annual in March 18th and he was fine --I thought. My main concern at the time was that for the previous months of Jan and Feb, he had started eating ashes out of the fireplace but the vet said she wasn't too concerned about it. Got his vaccinnes updated, everything is good, we go home.

A week later he began vomiting daily so I took him in and they did blood work that showed his liver enzymes were at 869 and said normal was 100. I cant remember which test it was specifically. ?ALT??
He was given Clavimox and an anti-inflammatory for a week. it helped a little but then he began vomiting again.

So I did a bunch of research online and read about the hazards of dry food and how it can affect the liver so I slowly changed him to wet food only. since March 25 he has vomited everyday except for maybe 3-4 days. he always vomits 8-10 hours after eating. He has lost weight and his coat is dull and scraggly. He went back in to the vets last Thursday and was put on Metaclopromide for the vomiting. it worked for 2 days then he began vomiting again so i took him in yesterday. They rechecked his liver enzymes ad his level was down to mid 500's. So I think the diet change might be working. The vet put him on an antibiotic yesterday so now he is on the Metaclopromide and the antibiotic. Unfortunately he vomited early this morning around 2:00am.

The vet had recommended yesterday I get some milk thistle and give it to Pete. I ordered some liquid milk thistle made for cats online and read alot of good and hopeful reviews. has anyone here used it for liver disease and what kind of results did you get with it? Any info is much appreciated.

Thanks, Susie

You test at home? Is it possible on top of the other things going on the insulins wearing off then? You using a low carb food? My cat was diabetic and I noticed he hardly ever lasted the 12 hours, I ended up getting him to be food controlled diabetic.

Diabetic cats need to be on wet food, but only certain ones, due to the carb issue.

The site that has good diabetic food info is www.yourdiabeticcat.com. It will give you the formula for figuring out the carb content in wet foods.

My Arthur is on Milk Thistle. He had been vomiting and loosing wt. It turns out he has insufficient pancreas. His food was not getting digested. And he has a gall stone and bile duct stone. This was found by sonogram. I believe the gall stone caused the vomiting. You could ask the vet if this could be a possibility.

But, check out the site above. You will find the right food for your kitty. I hope he feels better soon. It is so hard when our little friends are sick and we seek answers.

My brothers dog is on milk thistle so far he is doing fine, his liver levels were high. My brother also was taking milk thistle for his liver and there was a marked improvement with him also. Good luck.

I use milk thistle for my self and it's all good.

You may want to ask your vet about Denamarin instead of just milk thistle. Denamarin is Denosyl (sam-e) and Marin (milk thistle)

When Tolly's ALT was as high as your kitty he went on Denosyl (the sam-e) vet did not think he needed milk thistle. His numbers are now in normal range and have been for about 9 months (it took about 6 months on the denosyl to get them down)

Petey

Thanks for the feedback. He only eats wet food. I switched to that only after we got his bloodwork results the first time in march. Had no idea dry food could do that, but obviously switching him to wet food is helping to lower his liver enzyme levels. I will look into the other meds with SAM-e and Marin. I did see that but I would like to get something in liquid form. Petey hates pills. Hates them. I will ask the vet about the pancreas and stones as well. I need to look a every possibility. Pete has been with me for almost 15 years, and he still has lots of life left in him
He actually did not vomit last night which is wonderful. He has been eating and drinking and going to the bathroom, and does not have a fever. so very pleased with that.

Thanks again for the feedback

You mentioned "liquid" milk thistle. Do you mean it's in tincture form? If so, I would suggest looking into capsules/powder instead because tinctures contain alcohol which would not be good.

As otto mentioned, SAM-e is very helpful as well. If you choose to give both supplements, definitely look into Denamarin since it contains both.

Glad to hear he did not vomit last night. Good luck!

Originally Posted by otto

You may want to ask your vet about Denamarin instead of just milk thistle. Denamarin is Denosyl (sam-e) and Marin (milk thistle)

Click to expand...

I had Maverick on Denamarin when his liver enzymes shot up, and it did help to bring it down. I don't recall the exact numbers now, but I think the numbers started out at 300-something, and went down to 60-something after only a few weeks.

I hope your kitty will improve soon!