Milk thistle? Or, Dena does raw...

[Cassidy's Mom]

Friday I noticed that Dena didn't seem 'right', and then that evening she ate half her dinner and walked away. VERY not like her. She refused breakfast on Saturday and ate maybe 1/4 cup for dinner, and one piece of chicken jerky during the day. Sunday she had very strange poop (and this is from the queen of perfect poop), so I was starting to get concerned. Saved the poop, just in case. Sunday I got about a cup of food into her in the morning and almost a cup in the evening, but her appetite was still off, and she was obviously not feeling well.

So I took her into the vet yesterday, and he said it looked like she got ahold of a small mammal, possibly a squirrel. HUH?!?!? But he pointed out that what I couldn't identify was little bits of bone, and there were clearly clumps of hair too. No idea how this could have happened - for one thing it would have had to go into the dog run, which would be weird in any case, but also if there were small furry critters around it seems like Keefer, who lives to eat and has wicked prey drive (he loves to bark at the squirrels in the back yard), would have gotten it. Although I guess if she got to it first and warned him off he'd defer to her. But I still don't know where she'd have had the opportunity since they're only in the main part of the yard where the squirrels are when we're outside, and then they're just a few feet away, maybe out of sight for a couple of minutes while Tom hoses down the pee in the side yard.

But in any case, the vet ran the full gamut of tests - urinalysis, giardia, and a full blood workup. She's on flagyl, and I bought some canned food to mix into her kibble. We've been able to get her to eat about 2/3 of the usual amount of kibble by mixing in a bunch of Wellness canned. Yesterday afternoon after she came home from the vet she had another weird poop with more of the bone and hair, but this morning, although it was very loose, it seemed like she'd gotten all of whatever it was out of her.

But the bad news - I called for the blood test results this afternoon, and the vet said that it showed that whatever she ate has made her sick, hopefully only temporarily. Her gall bladder and liver values are elevated, not seriously, but moderately. I have a copy of the test but I'm not sure what I'm looking at. He wants to recheck her blood work in two weeks, and in the meantime make sure she keeps eating and drinking plenty of water. Fortunately, no vomiting, and she does appear hungry, she'll readily eat a biscuit and the canned food, but if I hold out a piece of kibble, she'll turn her head away. And she's still lethargic.

I remembered reading about Milk Thistle, so I went by the health food store on my way home and bought some. It's 175 mgs Milk Thistle Seed Extract, 80% standardized Silymarin. I think I need to give her one capsule twice a day - can someone confirm that for a 73 pound dog? And please think good thoughts for my baby girl!

[Fodder]

i can't confirm a thing about the milk thistle - but i wanted to send all sorts of good thoughts, prayers and wishes her way!!!

poor baby girl!

[Cassidy's Mom]

Thanks Calone. I just couldn't believe it when the vet told me. Keefer, I'd believe, not Dena. Although we'd still have the issue of opportunity.

[tracyc]

Poor Dena! Hopefully whatever the critter was, it'll all come out okay and she'll be back to her old self soon.

Sending good thoughts from here...

[Annikas Mom]

No help here with Milk Thistle but had to send my healing good thoughts to Miss Dena and a big hug to you and Tom, I know all too well how scary it is when are kids are sick and not able to tell us what the heck is going on!!

[3K9Mom]

Urff! Dena, what ARE you thinking?

You need Ruth. She knows dosages. I'm almost positive that she's giving milk thistle to Chama these days. I use Animals' Apawthecary Detox Blend when my kids get into weird things (The beagle girls live to eat weird stuff). So I can't help you there, except that if one of the alt med folks don't come aboard soon, I've found Animals' Apawthecary tinctures at most of my small better pet stores.

Hope D. feels better.

[onyx'girl]

Chipmunk?? Healing thoughts for Dena.
http://www.google.com/search?q=milk+this...FB_enUS213US221

[BowWowMeow]

Sorry--I was walking and playing soccer with Rafi.

Ok, so what I'm guessing is that she has pancreatitis from eating this furry thing? Is that what they said? I'm not sure what else would cause her liver enzymes to go up.

I do not give people milk thistle but I found this chart for you:

Dog's size
Dose as % of adult human dose
5 lbs 10%
5-10 lbs 15%
11-20 lbs 20%
21-40 lbs 30%
41-70 lbs 50%
71-100 lbs 75%
100 lbs 100%

I have Chama on this stuff: http://www.homevet.com/osc/product_i...dbbba38c2abfef

It would be beneficial for Dena because of the B-vitamins as well.

If I were you I would take her off of commercial dog food and put her on a homemade diet with an overcooked grain, pureed sweet potatos, canned pumpkin and chicken breast. I believe you want a low fat, high fiber diet if its pancreatitis.

[Barb E]

Poor Dena

[Cassidy's Mom]

He didn't specifically mention pancreatitis, and I didn't think to ask. I saw the same chart, with just percentages of human dosages - that's how I came up with one capsule twice a day. It's actually a little more than the recommended dosage, but I think that's okay? What you're giving Chama would be even higher since she'd be getting 2 or 3 capsules twice a day based on her weight. I'll order some of that, hopefully they can rush it out for me. How much do you give Chama, and what does she weigh?

Right now Dena is eating 1/2 can of Wellness grain free, and about a cup of Evo Red Meat twice a day. I'll have to look into what the fat and fiber ratios are, I have no idea off the top of my head.

Thanks Ruth!