Denamarin alternative

[skiptomylou]

According to recent ultrasound results my cat has cholangiohepatitis, as part of triaditis, and inflammation of a part of her liver. This has been going on for 3 months now and I’ve finally come to the conclusion that it’s being Mis-managed. The pancreatitis part is being focused on but that won’t clear up without treating the other parts. She’s been on prednisolone for 6 weeks now so that part of treatment has been addressed. She’s been on dehydrocholic acid (synthetic bile) on and off since July however after this ultrasound she didn’t tell me I needed to start that up again, but I’m going to because I have a bunch left. I’m guessing it’s because 2 months ago her blood work showed normal liver and bilirubin levels so she said I could stop the liver medications but she hasn’t had bloodwork since then. And I haven’t been told to put her back on denamarin since she came home from being hospitalized in July. She came home with a month’s worth which I finished but despite these ultrasound results I’m not being told to put her back on any liver support. I’m planning on getting a referral to an internal medicine specialist but in the meantime I would like to get her back on some liver support. I’m looking for something that can be mixed into food. The denamarin has to be given on an empty stomach, and if these are my cat’s last months I don’t want to spend them fighting with her to get pills down her throat. The dehydrocholic acid pills twice a day are bad enough. I’m not sure why it’s not ursidiol instead but I digress. Is just milk thistle without the SAMe almost as good? Can it be mixed with food?

 

[FeebysOwner]

I stumbled across this article after reading your post - Denamarin vs. Milk Thistle: 2023 Comparison and Key Differences (pet.reviews). Maybe it can be of some help to you while you wait on other members' input. Until then, perhaps you'd like to peruse through previous posts about each of these supplements.
Search Results for Query: milk thistle | TheCatSite
Search Results for Query: denamarin | TheCatSite

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

You can also buy Sam-E for cats, which can be added to their food. But whatever you do, I would definitely discuss it with your Vet so they are aware. And why not ASK them about Ursodiol? Perhaps there is a reason they have not suggested it, or perhaps not? You should feel comfortable discussing all of this with your Vet, and if you aren't, you should seek out a new Vet.

That referral to an internist is a good idea, but it could take quite awhile. They all seem to be so busy these days

 

[skiptomylou]

FeebysOwner thank you for the article and thread links. I have checked them all out.

mrsgreenjeens I will discuss adding the denamarin back in with my vet before I do it. I ended up ordering that plus pill masker in an attempt to not have to fight with her to take more pills. Hopefully she likes the taste of the pill masker. I haven’t asked the vet yet about Ursodiol because I just found out it exists yesterday. I was so focused on the pancreatitis, because the vets were, that the triaditis part and liver inflammation was kind of overlooked. It could be why she was doing so well 3 months ago when she came home from the hospital than she is now. She was on denamarin for a month until I ran out of it then it was never suggested to start again. She was on dehydrocholic acid for a total of 2 months and that seems to be very similar the the ursodiol but yet I can’t find any articles or threads of anybody giving that to their cats. And it’s extremely hard to find. Only one pharmacy even carries it that I could find and that’s wedgewood. It seems like the ursodiol is much more common plus only has to be given once a day vs two and the dehydrocholic acid capsules are really a pain. I call them sticky pills. My poor cat is so stressed from vet visits and the vet that has been treating this all along is 45 mins away. She is in the middle of a herpes flare up now that she hasn’t had in 12 years from all the stress so I’m trying to lay off on vet appts for awhile, so I’m not sure if I want to bother with an internal medicine specialist or not.

white shadow thank you for the pm. I finally had some time to join that pancreatitis group tonight, although I will admit reading through some of the posts makes me feel really sad and hopeless. But knowledge is power and I’m definitely seeing that this disease has no clear cut path to relief and requires a lifetime of commitment to watching for signs of a relapse.