milk thistle (silymarin) is an herb (not a homeopathic). You can get the ground herb in capsules, but the best, most effective is decocted in alcohol. HerbPharm is the one I've used on Billy all year long (he's taking cyclosporine which is mega bad on the liver and we just got a Bile Acids test that came back PERFECT on Friday!!!!) But he's taking twice the adult human dose twice a day!
Milk thistle helps 'detox' the body/liver ... even the ground herb will help a great deal (easy to give - it's almost tasteless). There are pharmaceuticals now that kind of 'mimic' milk thistle.
Start that right away and give as much as you possibly can -- it's benign -- it won't hurt and it can help a WHOLE lot.
But you gotta find out what has caused the elevated liver enzymes -- so it's a good place to start. If you want to help yourself 'understand' a little more about the TCVM get Cheryl Schwartz's book "Four Paws Five Directions" (that vet may have it for sale in her office).
A lot of things can cause elevated liver enzymes -- diet can help in a big way. I'd suggest you talk to Doggie Dietician ([link
http://www.monicasegal.com]http://www.monicasegal.com[/link]) or even check out her Yahoo group. Dr. Dodd's is also an incredible help. But cooking for a liver dog is a bit different, but also you want to make sure you are not exacerbating something else.
Just for future reference -- in both renal and liver 'failure' or problems, the body becomes 'toxic' (remember both these organs filter blood for the body). When these toxins build up the dog becomes VERY sick -- nauseus and they may throw up, not be able TO eat, etc.
The big huge 'difference' is -- in renal failure the kidneys shunt toxins directly TO the stomach and that's why they get so sick. It literally makes them nauseated because of the toxins IN the stomach and often ulcers and bleeding ulcers develop and they just plain can't eat.
However, in liver problems -- toxins shunt to the **brain** rather than to the stomach. They aren't *really* nauseaus -- but the brain ***thinks*** it is. The operative difference is that if you can get rid of those toxins in the brain then the dog CAN and usually will eat. So they use things like lactulose (and others) that bind to those toxins in the brain and carry them out of the body. The problem is lactulose is, literally, a physic (mega laxative). The more you give of it the more toxins it removes, but the worse the diarreha is. There are a couple of different things used now, but binding toxins and getting them out of the body is a big huge deal to keep the liver dog EATING (so it *can* heal).
So if the vet prescribes something like that ask about it and why and how much. And the TCVM vet will also have other things that will help with the liver. When Foxy (sheltie/corgi mix I had that I lost last year at the age of 19 -- but he had a huge liver infection a few years ago which is where a whole lot of my knowledge/info comes from) was being treated they gave him a thing called "Exliptex" (Chinese herb) that was kind of a super milk thistle. But one of the purposes of it was to help get rid of those toxins specifically.
Good luck -- feel free to email me if I can help you in ANY way. I know only too well how darned scarey this stuff is.