it took Gabby a few months for her levels to go down. They have stayed down. She ended up having other symptoms and with furthur testing it turned out she had Cushings, which turned into Addisons after her adrenals failed due to the medication.

Milk thistle twice a day along with a SamE. No reason, it was just less expensive and easier to get than the combo drug. Two months later, liver numbers were back to normal. This was due to food allergies that were I diagnosed for some time.689j

I have a 14yr old (non-lab) who was sick SICK over Labor Day. Blood work showed his liver #'s to be off the chart!! He is eating Science Diet L/D, which there is canned and dry foods available. I also asked about milk thistle and SAMe...my vet highly recommended the use of both, but I opted to use Denamarin (given on empty stomach at least 1hr prior to feeding in AM)

http://www.nutramaxlabs.com/dog/dog-liver-health/denamarin-for-dogs

He is doing GREAT so far and am anxious to see what the blood work shows in 2wks! Good Luck to you!

What dosage of Milk Thistle is everyone using?

My girl was on 200mg of MT daily. But it depends on how high your dogs levels are. I later had her on 100mg when her levels dropped.

I also learned that MT with dandelion is a better product.

Please note: I learned: MT "can" be detrimental to a healthy liver. So once my girl was in normal range I only continued with the B 50 complex. E I dropped to 200ui and I added alfalfa at 300mg daily. I took her off the MT and the SAMe

She has been in normal range since Dec. 2009 and continues on the B,E and Alfalfa.

You can try the Denamarin from your vet but it more expensive than the above. Back in 2008 it would have cost me $120 a month and I bet its more expensive now.

Note: for those that have not read my blog; SAMe is best given with a B50 complex and on an empty stomach for better uptake. The e and MT can be given in meals.

I also learned that when giving 2 supps a day (if your MT is 100mg capsules and you are giving 200mg per day) it is best to split into a.m. and p.m. meal. This goes for any natural supplements.

I paid $52 for a 30 count bottle of Denamarin

And depending on the amount you need to give (in my case it would have been 2 per day) that adds up monthly so I chose to use the vitamins in human form and saved a lot of money.

And it worked just as well.......

Not discounting Denamarin, just saying....... most dog supps are a lot more expensive than the human forms we can give.

Just remember in most human forms of holistic care for our dogs you should give half the human dose daily.

This depends on the dogs weight, the age and the circumstances.

If you are unsure, talk with a holistic vet.