Medical Question for Willow-Update

Lori,,,been kind of busy and not around much for a while..but glad to read my Willow Bear is doing well!

I really hate how this forum is set up - it's hard to follow all the news and I keep missing things.  You've had good news while I was dealing with my bad news!  Congratulations on what sounds like a reasonably trouble-free recovery for you and Willow!  Good luck on the road ahead while you step her off the pred.  Don't be upset if she gets grouchy now!

And, very timely advice from Callie.  I was looking everywhere for the dose on the milk thistle and was getting no joy.  And here it is.  I found the HerbPharm tincture locally and amazingly it was cheaper than the capsules would have been.  And I found a good online source and ordered it - it's cheaper online than it is at the local store.  

It works perfectly for Ben, who despises pills and picks them right out of his food.  I mix the drops in about an ounce of water and use my sheep drench gun (lol) to syringe it into Ben's mouth.  

But I've been underdosing him.

What about the alcohol considering the active liver disease, Callie?  That worries me a little.  I tasted it and it seems really strong (what is that, about 90 proof?   

Thank you very much guys. 

Becca, the way Callie explained it to me there is really no dosing for milk thistle.  That's something the companies came up with to say this capsule is this much, etc--because it's an herb so it's not like drug.  Callie explains it so much better but I'm sure you get what I'm saying.  Right now, Willow is getting 2 to 3 times the adult dose and she's only 48lbs.  According to Callie, she was told it also helps the kidneys at high enough doses. 

Willow's been tolerating it very well too--I'm actually sort of surprised. 

I'm glad Ben is OK!!

Lori 

The vet told me the alcohol truly isn't a problem at all.  However, if you want *or if he objects to the taste* if you open the bottl and stand it in a pan with some water on the stove (the water level in the pan has to be LOWER than in the bottle) and heat that tincture (bring the water close to boiling and shut off) it will evaporate some of the alcohol if you need to.

I just mixed it in with food and Billy took it.  Most of the time he was on the big guns steroids and steroid-like drugs for the IMHA he got four to five droppersful twice a day.  That's 2-3 times the adult human dose and he did GREAT. 

In Billy's case they figure it actually helped protect his kidneys as well as liver because the Atopica is SO hard on the kidneys.

The decoction in th alcohol actually works better than the powder in some ways.  But Dr. DiNatale says both have value.

Milk thistle is pretty benign tasting and you likely could get away with just mixing the powdered herb into food if it's a dog that won't tolerate pills well.

Willow gets hers mixed in yogurt or baby food. 

calliecritturs

Milk thistle is pretty benign tasting and you likely could get away with just mixing the powdered herb into food if it's a dog that won't tolerate pills well.

Pirate gets his mixed into his food. He doesn't even notice! He really didn't like the taste of the tincture though, so I buy it as a loose powder and just measure it.