How much milk thistle to give 10lb liver sick cat?

noanjel

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Hello everyone. Can anyone help me figure out how much milk thistle I should give my sick cat. He does have liver disease and he weighs about 10 pounds. I got 175mg capsules and it says on there for a human to take it 3 times a day. So, maybe a little sprinkle will do. Any advice will be very much appreciated.

SMOOOOOCH!

Stephanie
 

sharky

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Ask the vet who prescribed it ... If a vet did NOT prescribe talk with your vet about it
 

yosemite

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Please do not give your cat any meds, especially human meds unless advised by a vet and he has advised dosage.
 

violet

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Stephanie, I'd like to ask you, do you have a diagnosis that tells you what kind of liver disease Malcolm has? Also, did he ever have an ultrasound to rule out cancer?

Milk thistle can help with some liver diseases, but not all. It has no side effects, so it's safe. Too much (more than a cat's system can handle) will cause loose stools or diarrhea. And under certain circumstances milk thistle can also cause vomiting.

Perhaps a vet prescribed milk thistle would be the safest. There are several choices, including the alcohol-free liquid form.

From the milk thistle you bought, since you don't want to waste any time, you should not give more than a 30 mg dose at one time. If Malcolm can tolerate it, 30 mg three times a day would be a safe amount. Holistic vets use up to 200 mg daily for very sick cats.

Do NOT sprinkle milk thistle on food. Get empty gel caps (size 0) at a health food store, put the amount you want to give in a gel cap, coat the gel cap lightly with butter and pill him with it.

I'm wondering about something. With severe liver disease your kitty needs a diet that is low in fat. Did you get any advice regarding this from your vet? Is he on a prescription diet?
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by Violet

Stephanie, I'd like to ask you, do you have a diagnosis that tells you what kind of liver disease Malcolm has? Also, did he ever have an ultrasound to rule out cancer?

Milk thistle can help with some liver diseases, but not all. It has no side effects, so it's safe. Too much (more than a cat's system can handle) will cause loose stools or diarrhea. And under certain circumstances milk thistle can also cause vomiting.

Perhaps a vet prescribed milk thistle would be the safest. There are several choices, including the alcohol-free liquid form.

From the milk thistle you bought, since you don't want to waste any time, you should not give more than a 30 mg dose at one time. If Malcolm can tolerate it, 30 mg three times a day would be a safe amount. Holistic vets use up to 200 mg daily for very sick cats.

Do NOT sprinkle milk thistle on food. Get empty gel caps (size 0) at a health food store, put the amount you want to give in a gel cap, coat the gel cap lightly with butter and pill him with it.

I'm wondering about something. With severe liver disease your kitty needs a diet that is low in fat. Did you get any advice regarding this from your vet? Is he on a prescription diet?
While I realize this post is meant to be helpful, please do NOT give your cat anything that has not been okayed by a VET. None of us here are vets and therefore are not authorized to give medical advice. In fact if we were to give medical advice and your cat suffered as a result, we are open to lawsuits so it is imperative that we stress this very strongly.

Even natural/holistic remedies can be dangerous (i.e., not necessarily harmless) if used improperly, without proper knowledge of their properties and what conditions they can produce.

So please, do not act on any advice here without consulting your vet.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by Violet

Excellent info from a great holistic vet

http://www.petcarenaturally.com/arti...upplements.php
Thank you for the link. Information is good - gives us more knowledge when speaking with our vets.

But, again, getting information from the internet is all good as long as we confirm it with a trained professional before following the advice.
 

radiotodd

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HI! Sorry...but if I had only listened to vets (not all) that I've been in contact with (limited) my cat would be over-vaccinated and probably not still with me today. She is over 18 now. She has been sick only twice. Vets do NOT want you to give herbal supplements that WORK because it would put them out of business. THINK ABOUT IT! Milk Thistle is COMPLETELY safe and VERY effective for cats. Do your research folks. I've had vets tell me that "anything Purina" is fine and kibble is fine. NO NO NO! It is terrible for your cat. Vet diets like Science Diet and others are junk ad well. let's think about this logically ok. Why do you think kidney disease is at epidemic levels with cats and dogs? I guarantee you it's not natural supplements causing. It's unnatural junk like kibble that contains by-products and disgusting quality meats is them (if any). Gluten is causing inflammation and joint problems and certain grains are harmful as well. Basically 90% of the junk you would find in a grocery...that some vets deem as fine.  To sum up...milk thistle is great for your cat! A holistic vet will tell you that! Don't let anyone tell you different. If they do, they either don't have any knowledge about it or do and for their own agenda would rather give you pharmas and shoot them up with antibiotics. 
 

searchin4truth

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Yeah, if I had only listened to her doctors, my wife would still need Percocet for Fibromyalgia and D-Ribose for chronic fatigue syndrome.

Since we used our BRAINS, we figured out that clinical symptoms are more accurate than the Thyroid blood panel for diagnosis of Hypothyroidism and IODINE DEFICIENCY does not cause abnormal Thyroid values, although iodine deficiency causes HYPOTHYROIDISM !  

DO NOT TRUST ANY DOCTOR WITH ANYONE YOU CARE ABOUT !  Get the diagnosis and blood tests and DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH.

Do your OWN RESEARCH  or be ready to take the blame if you end up DOING LESS THAN YOU COULD HAVE DONE and burying the result.
 

da hoomin

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Just tacking my cents for future reference to anyone.


Malý is on a high dose of phenobarbital, which is hard on the liver. I did alot of researching - on Google Scholar - I found that both omega 3 [marine sourced] and taurine are hepato-protective. AKA: liver protective. Granted these were results of human studies - but we all know they did tests on animals first . . . 

ps. Neither supplement needs to be mega-dosed for effectiveness! The recommended dose [per AAFCO and Merck] should be all that's needed. Supposedly Taurine cannot be over-dosed [within reason!] but Omega 3 CAN.
 
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