Specialist Milk thistle

[tabelmabel]

I emailed the cavy savvy vet to ask about milk thistle for Benson's liver.

He says it is safe and certainly won't do him any harm but getting the right one can be tricky. It must have s - adenosylmethione as an active ingredient.

He said dog and cat ones would be good but are often beef flavoured and be careful with health food shop ones as they might not have the active ingredient.

He will source one if i have no luck but thought i would check here first.

Thanks!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

Sorry, I have no experience with it.

I am linking @Jaycey in for you.

 

[tabelmabel]

Thanks @Wiebke

 

[Eriathwen]

I'd be interested to see if anyone has any ideas. I used milk thistle for Bramble while she was still alive, but I just gave her the dried plants, I couldn't say whether they made a difference or what level of s - adenosylmethione they contained though I'm afraid.

 

[tabelmabel]

Thanks! My vet mentioned a product called sam-elyn which i have found on viovet but it seems to be tablets for dogs. There is a sachet option too which could be suitable for mixing into a liquid but it's not clear on their site.

Much cheaper is a horse one. Someone has asked if the horse one is ok for dogs and been told not by viovet.

I have asked if ok for guinea pigs.

 

[DM030819]

Galen's Garden sell Milk Thistle.

@tabelmabel What does your vet expect the milk thistle to do? Apologies, I haven't read any threads on what condition your piggy has.

 

[tabelmabel]

Thanks @Jaycey ! My pig had a basic blood screen and his liver is showing very abnormal results. This was a surprise - the reason his bloods were checked was because an x ray found his bladder full calcium and a urine sample was watery.

The x ray also revealed severe arthritis so he was prescribed loxicom for pain and a low calcium diet.

The vet said the watery urine needed further investigation as it could indicate a kidney problem. And then he couldn'tbe on loxicom.

However his kidneys are fine but the liver results are not. So i had a choice of getting a very detailed blood screen to further investigate the liver and then possible biopsy. Or palliative care.

Given the fact he isn't insured and almost 7, i decided on palliative care. So he is staying on loxicom and has a few weeks at most.


He is eating himself but losing weight. He might have liver cancer but that is unknown as i am not going ahead with further tests. Or there could be another reason for the liver results.


I read about milk thistle myself and asked the vet. He has not recommended it but says benson can have it on the basis it will do no harm. Anything that helps him live a little longer i am willing to try.

Thanks for the link!

 

[tabelmabel]

Just a question about the milk thistle: i got the dried herb from Galen's Garden. It's got quite a few thistle heads in it which feel really spikey! Can i give these spikey thistle heads to eat?
Initial thoughts are VERY positive: Benson loves the stuff (it arrived yesterday)

Oddly, my other pig Mike hasn't touched it. It's almost like Benson knows he needs the stuff!
So yesterday and today, Benson has been on great form. He's been quite vocal and responsive. It's so hard to believe he is so ill but the poor lad is VERY thin. He has been active though and eating and drinking himself so I am very pleased with this milk thistle!

Any advice about the thistle heads though please is welcome