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Sydney is not a good representation of a raw fed dog. She's overweight.  She has joint issues.  She developed gray in her muzzle when she was young.  And she has dry skin and white flakes in her coat.  People are often surprised that she's raw fed.
However, if you knew her before raw, you would see the changes. Â If you knew her over the past few years as a raw fed dog, you'd see the changes. Â Switching Sydney to raw helped to strengthen her immune system, lose weight, and develop a gorgeous coat.
So what went wrong?
I made a few mistakes as a raw feeder.  I didn't adjust the amount I was feeding Sydney after she had an injury (her partial cruciate tear).  I thought that because she was raw fed, she would be fine.  This worked when she was on Darwin's Pet, however, when I switched her to homemade with a base mix (higher in carbs), my girl was consuming more calories and wasn't doing to work to burn them off.  So now she's fat.
But what about the rest?
I was told by her veterinarian to increase the liver in her diet to strengthen her liver. Â She told me that dogs that have joint issues tend to need additional liver support which they can get through a supplement or by adding more liver to their diet. Â Later that year, another veterinarian told me the opposite was the case; adding more liver was working against her liver health.
I learned recently that she may need a liver cleanse.
DepositPhoto/Soyka564
Benefits of Milk Thistle for Dogs
Milk thistle is great for liver health and detoxification. Â While researching the benefits of milk thistle for dogs, I found that it's great for skin problems secondary to liver disease, pancreatitis, fatty liver, and liver tumors. Â Milk thistle is also recommended for dogs after vaccinations, chemotherapy, and puppies recovering from parvo.
Sydney's blood work came back great; her veterinarian simply asked me to continue working with her on weight loss.
Adding Milk Thistle to a Dog's Diet
While I could have purchased a human supplement, when I'm trying a supplement for the first time, I prefer to buy one formulated or dogs to avoid giving too much or too little. Also, when I buy a supplement for dogs from a reputable source, I know that I'm getting the highest quality and not a derivative that can be found in supplement stores for humans.
I ordered two containers of milk thistle from Herbsmith, Inc. via Amazon.com.
I added 1/4 tsp to each dog's meal twice a day four days a week until I went through the container (about three weeks). Â My goal was to give Sydney a liver detox, and I figured I'd take care of all the dogs in one shot.
I didn't expect anything.  There aren't many things that show a drastic change outside of switching our dogs to a raw food diet.  Three weeks later, I was pleasantly surprised by the changes. Today, my dogs get milk thistle 3-4 days a week.
- CLICK HERE to order Herbsmith Milk Thistle for Dogs, use KTTW10 at check out to save 10% on your order.
1 – Shiny coat and healthy skin.
Sydney's coat no longer has white flakes, and it's shiny. Â Before the detox, her coat had a slightly greasy texture and was often dull; that's gone now.
2 – Improved mobility and faster recovery.
Sydney is more active and is walking more comfortably. Â When we took the dogs outside, she used to sit and watch the cyclists on the trail; now she's walking all over the property.
3 – Better attitude and some naughty behavior.
Sydney seems happier and sillier, like the old Sydney. Â And she's a bit naughty too – humping the other dogs, stealing my shoes, and I caught her trying to counter surf one day. Â This is all evidence that she's feeling a lot better and it's time for me to reintroduce some training.
4 – Decreased doggy smell.
Out of all of our dogs, Sydney was the one that would begin to smell like a dog the fastest, within a couple weeks of having a bath. That's not the case anymore. Â She smells great for longer periods of time like the rest of her pack!
5 – Weight loss.
At her heaviest, Sydney weighed 85 pounds (she should weigh about 70 pounds).  She lost 10 pounds in 2015.  In 2016, she danced around 74-76 pounds all year.  I haven't weighed her in 6 months, but I can tell that she's trimming down when I look down at her waistline.
Milk Thistle is Not a Daily Supplement for Dogs
There is a belief that you cannot give milk thistle to dogs on a daily basis and I took this to heart until recently (April 2018) when I learned that it actually SHOULD be given to dogs on a daily basis because it's most effective against toxins when our dogs' systems are preloaded with this natural supplement. I'm not sure if the belief that milk thistle isn't a daily supplement is related to supplements intended for humans; I give my dogs a supplement formulated for pets.
I now add milk thistle to each of my dogs' meals in the morning 3-4 days a week (accounting for days when I forget or I'm rushing out the door).
CLICK HERE to order Herbsmith Milk Thistle for Dogs, use KTTW10 at check out to save 10% on your order.
Susan Terzo. My hubby wouldn’t let me use the milk thistle.. My dog still gets slight seizures.. I heard some dogs are just prone to them. But I know that the nexgard is out of his system since its been 6 months..
You’ll have to check with a holistic veterinarian for your dog because I’m not certain. My dogs get milk thistle daily for 3 months with one month off in between.
I have the same situation now. My dog has been on nexguard for 4 months and had his first (and I hope only) one seizure. I will never give it to him again. Did it help and how long did you use it to detox?
Thank you,
Susan
I just ordered this for my dog that has a seizure while on nexguard. I want to detox his liver and get it out of him. Any idea who long I should give this to him? He is a 21 pound Minature Poodle.
Thank you!
Hi Jaime please keep me posted on your dogs seizures as you are the only person who has contacted me about this similar problem.. My dog has had 2 very minor slightly shakey episodes since. no thrashing drooling etc.. like theother ones were.. he hasn’t had any flea meds since Oct 3rd and im giving him an oatmeal bath once a week.. He will NEVER have another flea mmed again!! my baby is way too precious to me to even consider hurting him in any way.. this page will not let me go back and correct my spelling he hasn’t had aa flea med since Sept 3rd NOT Oct.. so 2 months nexgard had been out so im hoping by January he will be fine again… hubby wont let me get the milk tistle, he thinks it has to be out of my dogs system by now but what does he know LOL.. I know that things can be in your system for a long time.. oh welltime will tell so keep me posted OK? Thanks again.. Mary 🙂
We had a similar experience with nextguard. Our vet said no flea/tick anything for 4-5 months.. tricky as we live in south Florida.
Been using Denamarin for 2 months and have been wanting to try milk thistle.. since I have read so many benefits for canines and humans.
Hi Mary,
I give my dogs milk thistle 3-4 days a week for liver support. While my dogs are healthy, we live in a toxic world and I think this extra support is important for them (and me, I take it too). I recommend reaching out to a holistic veterinarian to discuss your concerns; I don’t know if milk thistle will help the nextgard get out of your dog’s system faster.
my dog has had a few seizures with nextgard. I want to get it out of his system even tho he hasn’t had the meds for 2& 1/2 months.. I heard the milk thistle will help.. Please help me.. I want to make sure its out of his body.. what do I do…
I have been using Nature’s Farmacy products for about 5 years now and I am very pleased with rhe results they have given my 5 kiddos (4 pitties and 1 American bulldog). I use Immuno-guard (we started with Probiotic Max until i had two of my boys undergo significant traumas one of which was multiple Copperhead bites) and Phyto-flex for my boy that has torn both his ACL’s and it has helped him tremendously. Also use their Milk thistle, Cran-tri-c which is cranberry vitamin C supplement and a they have many others that are top notch. I am not affiliated with this company in any way just an amazed customer that has tried other crappy products before these. Usa company and the majority of their ingredients are sourced from the Usa from what i understand. Their customer service is awesome and if u need to know how to implement any kind of diet or supplement regiment they will spend an hour on the phone with u and go over all of your dog’s specifics just to make sure they don’t recommend anything they shdnt be taking. I was totally impressed. I am a Holistic Animal Healer and Canine Massage Therapist and I learned about this company when I was back in college by a suggestion from one of my professors who was also a holistic vet. Definitely check them out. It is just under Naturesfarmacy.com with an f
How do you get your dog to drink the vinegar? I am currently using the milk thistle.
Thank you for your reply Kimberly. We are not with an oncologist as I have refused aggressive tx and am researching all holisticat this time.
That’s a great question for your dog’s oncology. I can’t imagine that this would be an issue, I’m not a veterinarian and wouldn’t like to give bad information.
Is MT good for daily use in dogs with Cancer who don’t show liver problems yet? yet
Hi Kimberly, thanks for this.
A question, for pet parents who have difficulty sourcing a “dog” milk thistle, what can you recommend for them?
I for one cannot get one specifically for canines, unless I order from the US or similar and it costs an arm and a leg to get it posted. So I’m opting for a human one.
Note: I’ve recently discovered what MT can do for myself. Its helped a lot with my digestive problems (along with other foods and a healthy diet)
I interviewed Dr. Chris Bessent of Herbsmith and she shed some light on how best to use milk thistle and I now follow her advice. I updated this blog post with the video recently.
What she wrote was it was a mistake not to use it every day
I came here to specifically testify that milk thistle helped save our 15 year old miniature poodle just this week. She was diagnosed with liver disease and had the beginning stages of liver failure and hepatic encephalopathy. This also led to anxiety attacks and higher heart rate. Vet prescribed hills prescription food but the little food we were able to feed her didn’t help. More than once we thought she was going to die on us and we considered putting her down. However, we could tell she didn’t wanna die and we decided to give her a couple more days. The vets prescription food and drugs were having little effect so I started to dig deeper online for suggestions. After reading some stuff we gave her a couple milligrams of apple cider vinegar mixed with pedialyte and water. I believe the vinegar helped her body ph and chemicals balance themselves out as she relaxed and was able to finally get some sound sleep without her heart pounding. We then gave her about 175 milligrams of milk thistle with some flavorless pedialyte. We first gave her the APple cider vinegar and milk thistle on Saturday evening and it’s now Tuesday night. We’ve been feeding her blended organic chicken with rice and carrot along with some apple gerber. We’re giving her about 1 milligram a day of apple cider vinegar and about 200 milligrams a day of milk thistle throughout te day. (She weighs about 14 pounds) We are still giving her the medication for the hepatic encephalopathy as well. She has responded well to the treatment and she is back at about 80% of being herself. We are beyond amazed at how both apple cider vinegar and milk thistle helped her liver recover. You wouldn’t tell that just a couple days ago we were saying goodbye to our little girl. I’d really recommend trying this stuff out and can testify that out little Sophie is doing well and we have seen no negative side effects from either acv or milk thistle.
Ive known of many dogs being on MT for years. Especially dogs who have had their immune damaged, they’ve done a lot better on it than off
She ran off with my shoe yesterday. It was hilarious.
I’ve used milk thistle in the past and until I read this post I didn’t even realize that I’ve stopped #noreason Gotta get it back into rotation again. It has done marvelous things for Harley in the past. Thanks girlfriend for the gentle reminder.
Sydney is a gorgeous girl! I’m glad to hear she’s feeling well and up to a few naughty things now and then!
Hi, Pamela – I didn’t know that it wasn’t for everyday use until I was doing the research for this article. It makes sense because many people who use detox only use it a few times a year.
Thanks, Jaime
I love learning how to approach my dogs’ health with food. I’m still blown away by what a difference the detox made. I was petting Sydney and her coat is so soft.
Great article! I loooove milk thistle. Anyone interested in this stuff should definitely check out the book Everyday Roots. It teaches you how to replace all of the harmful chemical products in your life with organic ones. It’s completely changed my life and how I feel everyday 🙂
Heres a good article about it: http://reggiesreview.weebly.com/everyday-roots-review.html
The liver is one of the least understood organs in the body. And it’s so important for keeping poisons from building up in our bodies.
Glad the milk thistle is working for Sidney.
It’s helpful to know it’s not to be used every day. Because I think that’s something that many people do.
My holistic vet did prescribe Sam-e for my dog Agatha to support her liver. It was offered daily and it worked very well for her.