Denosyl, Marin and Milk Thistle

ok so I said I was going to do a post about these 3 supplements I haven't had the chance to do a whole lot of research on them, but I'm just going to post basic information here. I will do a more detailed most in the days to come. First Denosyl has been basically prescribed by my Vet for Lola to take 1 full pill a day even with her 5.5lb body here's a description of Denosyl.

Brand Name
Denosyl (Nutramax)

Active Ingredient(s):
S-Adenosylmethionine

What is this product used for:
Denosyl has been shown to increase hepatic glutathione levels in cats and dogs. Glutathione is a potent antioxidant that protects liver cells from toxins and death. Denosyl is recommended to improve hepatic glutathione levels in compromised animals to help maintain and protect liver function.

Availability:
Denosyl is a non-prescription (OTC) product available as 90mg, 225mg and 425mg stabilized tablets.

How this product should be used:
The tablets should be given on an empty stomach at least one hour before feeding. Research shows that, if possible, a fasting period of 8-12 hours before giving this product is optimal. The usual dose in cats and dogs is based on weight. For pets up to 12 lbs give 1 tablet of the 90mg strength, for pets 13 to 34 lbs give 1 tablet of the 225mg strength, for pets 35 to 65 lbs give 1 tablet of the 425mg strength, for pets 66 to 120 lbs give 2 tablets of the 425mg strength and for pets over 120 lbs give 3 tablets of the 425mg strength. When giving more than 1 tablet the total number of tablets may be divided into morning and evening. For example, a dose of 3 tablets could be divided into 2 tablets in the morning and 1 tablet in the evening.

What are the side effects:
There are no reported side effects.

What special precautions are there:
Tablets must be given whole. Do not break or split. Research shows that this product may be of benefit to pets that are also taking primidone, Phenobarbital, prednisone, azathioprine, cyclosporine and certain anti-depressants.

In the event of overdose:
Contact a veterinarian or veterinary emergency room.

How should I store this product:
Store this product in a cool, dry, place. Keep tablets in the original blister pack until used. Tablets are sensitive to moisture and extreme heat and should not be split or crumbled. Keep out of the reach of children.

This information sheet is for educational purposes only and is intended to be a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise and professional judgment of your veterinarian. The information is NOT to be used for diagnosis or treatment of your pet. You should always consult your own veterinarian for specific advice concerning the treatment of your pet.

The information is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, allergic reactions, drug interactions or adverse effects, nor should it be construed to indicate that use of a particular drug is safe, appropriate or effective for your pet. It is not a substitute for a veterinary exam, and it does not replace the need for services provided by your veterinarian.

Note: Any trademarks are the property of their respective companies

Ok this was taken right off of Petmeds.com so I haven't researched any of the claims, but it gives a basic overview. it says to fast for 8-12 hours I'll be honest and say Lola doesn't really fast for that long I just try to give it to her when she hasn't eaten in awhile this may be something I need to change, but I'm gonna talk to my vet about this again soon.

The Second Supplement Lola was prescribed by the vet is Marin and Lola takes 1/4 of a pill once a day. here's the description of this stuff.

Brand Name
Marin for Dogs (Nutramax)

Active Ingredient(s):
Marin for Large Dogs; Vitamin E (300 IU), Silybin A+B (70 mg), Zinc (45 mg)

Marin for Small to Medium Dogs: Vitamin E (105 IU), Silybin A+B (24 mg), Zinc (17 mg)

What is this product used for:
Marin for Dogs is specially formulated with silybin, vitamin E and Zinc to provide a multifaceted approach to liver support. Silybin is the most biologically active component of an extract known as silymarin. Silybin/sylimarin has been shown to have beneficial effects on liver function. Vitamin E, a membrane-associated antioxidant, helps protect the liver against oxidant injury. Zinc, an essential trace mineral and component of approximately 200 enzymes participates in protein and carbohydrate metabolism and hormone synthesis, in the liver and throughout the body. Studies have shown that silybin/silymarin protects against oxidative stress, provides a mechanism for liver cell regeneration, inhibits leukotrienes which are a component of the inflammatory response, stimulates biliary flow and production of hepatoprotective bile salts and increases levels of glutathione.

Availability:
Marin for Large Dogs and Marin for Small to Medium Dogs are non-prescription (OTC) products. The tablets are scored for ease of administration.

How this product should be used:
The recommended dose of Marin for Large dogs in dogs up to 36-54 lbs is 1/2 tablet daily. For dogs 55-99 lbs give 1 tablet daily and for dogs over 100 lbs give 1 ½ tablets daily. Give on a full stomach.

The recommended dose of Marin for Small to Medium Dogs under 10 lbs is 1/4 tablet daily. For dogs 11-19 lbs give 1/2 tablet daily, and for dogs 20-35 lbs give 1 tablet daily. Give on a full stomach.

What are the side effects:
There are no known side effects.

What special precautions are there:
This product is for veterinary use in dogs only.

In the event of overdose:
Contact your veterinarian or veterinary emergency room.

How should I store this product:
Store in a cool, dry area out of direct sunlight. Keep lid tightly closed to ensure freshness. Keep out of the reach of children.

This information sheet is for educational purposes only and is intended to be a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise and professional judgment of your veterinarian. The information is NOT to be used for diagnosis or treatment of your pet. You should always consult your own veterinarian for specific advice concerning the treatment of your pet.

The information is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, allergic reactions, drug interactions or adverse effects, nor should it be construed to indicate that use of a particular drug is safe, appropriate or effective for your pet. It is not a substitute for a veterinary exam, and it does not replace the need for services provided by your veterinarian.

Note: Any trademarks are the property of their respective companies

Again the Above information is taken directly from petmeds.com Lola has been taking this since June and it says it has Milk thistle in it which I'm just realizing I didn't realize til now so more research is needed on this.

The Third Supplement I give Lola is Milk Thistle and I started her on this myself, but several vets and vet techs and Lola's vet clinic said it was very good so that's why I started her on it I server her the Liver Cleanse Diet and I mix some powdered Milk Thistle in it to give her the dose one Human pill of Milk Thistle Lasts Lola over a week I don't give her much as of yet anyway, but here's a description of What exactly Milk Thistle is.

Health benefits

Milk thistle has been reported to have protective effects on the liver and to greatly improve its function. It is typically used to treat liver cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis (liver inflammation), and gallbladder disorders. The active compound in Milk thistle is silymarin, a mixture of at least 4 closely related flavonolignans, 60% to 70% of which is a mixture of 2 diastereomers of silybin. Silymarin is typically administered in amount ranging from 200-500mg per day. Whether or not these dosages are optimal is not known; no scientific data on which to base effective dosage level guidelines is available.

Research into the biological activity of silymarin and its possible medical uses has been conducted in many countries since the 1970s, but the quality of the research has been uneven.[1]

Reviews of the literature covering clinical studies of silymarin vary in their conclusions. A review using only studies with both double-blind and placebo protocols concluded that milk thistle and its derivatives "does not seem to significantly influence the course of patients with alcoholic and/or hepatitis B or C liver diseases."[2] A different review of the literature, performed for the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, found that, while there is strong evidence of legitimate medical benefits, the studies done to date are of such uneven design and quality that no firm conclusions about degrees of effectiveness for specific conditions or appropriate dosage can yet be made. [3]

A review of studies of silymarin and liver disease which are available on the web shows an interesting pattern in that studies which tested low dosages of silymarin concluded that silymarin was ineffective[4], while studies which used significantly larger doses concluded that silymarin was biologically active and had therapeutic effects.[5]

Beside benefits for liver disease and treatment claims include:

* Used as a post cycle therapy for body builders
* Lowering cholesterol levels
* Reducing insulin resistance in people with type 2 diabetes who also have cirrhosis
* Reducing the growth of cancer cells in breast, cervical, and prostate cancers.[6]
* Used in many products claiming to reduce the effects of a hangover

Ok now this info I got off of Wikipedia I have seen Milk Thistle Recommended over and over again for Lola's problems so that's why I'm using that again this does require more research as well which I will post again and also about any changes she's experiencing on these supplements and if the vet recommends any new supplements I may be taking her to a holistic vet soon to if and when I do I will post about it here.

Liver Cleanse Diet Continues

nothing really new to report at this time ,but just wanted to post a little bit of an update Lola has been on her diet for about 4 days now she's transitioning still from Kibble I could be imagining it, but she seems a bit more perky we'll have to wait and see. Well going further I'm continuing my research I'm going to be researching more on Milk Thistle which I have also been giving Lola and I'm going to research Denosyl and Marin I will post my findings here this week after some more research. tata for now.

Liver Cleanse Diet

so as promised here is the Liver Cleanse diet

The liver cleansing diet has been formulated by W. Jean Dodds, DVM. Dr. Dodds recommends a formula of 2 cups of pollack, cod or any other low fat white fish fillet to 6 cups of veggies and potatoes, or 25% pollack, cod or any other low fat white fish fillet to 75% veggies and potatoes. This diet has proved extremely successful in reversing liver damage along with reducing Phenobarbital.

1 and 1/2 cups moist white cooking potatoes
1 and 1/2 cups sweet potatoes
1 and 1/2 cups of zucchini
1 and 1/2 cup string beans, celery or summer squash
2 cups pollack, cod or any other low fat white fish fillet

Wash the potatoes well and cut them up crosswise into 2" pieces so the skin circles the potatoes. Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour and remove the skins.

Wash the zucchini and cut up with string beans, celery or squash and steam or cook until very tender.

2 cups pollack, cod or any other low fat white fish fillet poached in a frying pan with water until fish is white and flaky.

Mix all ingredients together until it is well blended. This will give you approximately 8 cups of food. Depending on the size of your dog, you can double or triple the recipe. For flavor you can add a pinch of garlic powder and a little Italian Seasoning to each meal.

For supplementation use the recommend dose of infants liquid multi-vitamin.

If you have been feeding kibble please remember that kibble has many more calories than the liver cleansing diet. You will need to feed at least 25% to 50% more home cooking than kibble until you are sure your dogs weight is holding where you want it. Dogs can loose weight very quickly on the liver cleansing diet so you need to monitor their weight carefully.

With liver disease try to feed in 3 or 4 small meals, the last one being at bedtime. This puts less stress on the liver. Put 3 days of meals in baggies and freeze what you won't use in 3 days. You should be able to cook once a week and freeze what you don't use. This recipe will stay fresh for 3 days in the fridge.

White low-fat fish has a specific amino acid that actually helps heal the liver. Soy and fat-free cottage cheese also have this specific amino acid, but should not be used in a diet until the liver enzymes test comes back in a normal range.

NOTE:
Home cooking is very rich. If you have been feeding commercial dog food you will need to switch very slowly to the liver cleansing diet to avoid diarrhea. Start with 3/4 of your commercial dog food and 1/4 liver cleansing diet for a few days. Then 50% commercial food and 50% liver cleansing for a few days. Then 1/4 old food and 3/4 liver cleansing for a few days and then switch over completely to the liver cleansing diet. Make sure the stools are somewhat firm before you move to the next level.

IMPORTANT:
If you are switching from kibble, and/or canned dog food, to home cooking and your dog is on potassium or sodium bromide, please be aware that there is considerably less sodium (salt) in home cooking than kibble or canned (which can have large amounts of sodium). Sodium, or salt, in the diet "uses up" the bromide and less salt in the diet could raise bromide levels substantially which would cause bromism. After switching over to home cooking, if your dog has weakness in its legs, trouble climbing stairs, gets "wobbly" or loses it's balance, your vet can reduce the bromide dose slowly and in small amounts. W. Jean Dodds, DVM, recommends reducing the dose of bromide slightly or by 1/3 at the most to see if the signs of bromism go away or are lessened. In a month, have the bromide levels checked to make sure they are in the therapeutic range. Don't worry about lowering the bromide as long as it stays in therapeutic range. Less bromide and home cooking will be healthier for your dog in the long range.

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MILK THISTLE

Dr. Dodds recommends using milk thistle in the doses listed below to help heal the liver along with reducing Phenobarbital (according to your vet) and feeding the liver cleansing diet.

Milk Thistle Dosage (from the newsletter "Healthy Pets - Naturally"):

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%

For more information on Milk Thistle, click here.

This was copied from this site http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/liver_diet.htm

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I've made this for Lola and just started to feed it to her on Monday she is doing well on it so far she really likes it she even licks the bowl so we'll see how it goes I'll be sure to post updates I'm hoping to have a blood test done in September to see how it's working I'm also looking into a holistic vet. I also found a book online in my research call Hope for healing Liver disease in your dog by Cindi Smasal I just started to read it, but Cindi is someone who had a dog with Liver problems and the book is about her research so I'm sure it will be a valuable resource.

Welcome to Lola's Journey

Let me introduce myself my Name is Rachel and I'm starting this blog to chronicle and keep track of the progress of my dog Lola and her journey to health. Lola is a Tea Cup Chihuahua she weighs about 5.5lbs. about 2 months ago Lola was diagnosed with Liver Problems back in May she went in for her annual exam and she had a normal blood work up that they do at the appointments Lola's level were a bit high so the vet wanted me to bring her back in a month later to do another blood test unfortunately the levels had jumped up even higher so the vet wanted to do a bile acid test which is basically where they test the dogs blood after fasting and then feed and test the blood again to see how the bile is processing the food (I'm not a vet I could be describing that procedure wrong, but that's the basic jist) well Lola's levels were still high after that test so they wanted to do an ultrasound. well she had the ultrasound which didn't really indicate anything was abnormal which of course frustrated me then why are her levels so high. one problem with the ultra sound the vet's office didn't tell me to fast Lola and also make sure she had a full bladder which is really another story, but because neither of those things happened the Vet couldn't get a clear view of the liver this procedure cost aprox. $350.00 not exactly a small sum for me so that didn't go well. so the vet wanted to do a second bile acid test to see if the levels had changed they didn't, but were still really high. so it was good that they atleast weren't higher. Lola has been very lucky so far not to exhibit the normal effects of liver failure or just liver problems they can have seizures, be very lethargic, and a few other things which I have to look up again, but I'll post on here what they are just for informational purposes. After Lola's first Bile Acid test the Vet sold me 2 supplements Denosyl and Marin I haven't researched them much yet, but I'll post findings on that as well. After that test I also switched Lola to a new dog food called EVO I heard about it from a myspace friend, but it's more natural then some of the foods out there and supposedly a higher quality which I believe, but I'm still doing research on dog food. pet food in general the manufactured food from the pet food companies I have been doing some research on pet food in this blog I'm going to also post information about pet food. since Lola has been diagnosed with Liver problems I've been doing a lot of research on pet health in general and specifically liver problems. I'll be posting links and letting you know about the books I'm reading on the subject. one link I found was to a liver cleansing Diet (I will post the recipe and the link later don't have it handy at the moment) so today I just started Lola on this diet and plan on keeping her on it for the next 2 months or so and hope that it will have a positive result I'll post updates. so before this post gets to terribly long I'll call it a night I'll post more tomorow on the liver cleansing diet. here's a pic of Lola.