Milk Thistle for Dogs: How It Benefits Your Pet

Milk thistle for dogs has become an increasingly common item in pets’ supplementary diet. The reason is that toxins are a part of life for dogs and milk thistle helps deal with them.

Your dog’s liver removes poisons from their blood, just as it does for us. As a result of the liver’s efforts to remove all of these toxins, it is very vulnerable to significant injury. For our pets, detoxification is a critical step.

When our pets’ pores are blocked with pollutants, we can’t give them the most incredible food in the world because it won’t go through. That weakens the body’s natural defenses. Immune dysfunction may lead to a wide range of health issues.

Milk thistle is well-known and increasingly popular nutritional supplement for liver issues in dogs and people. What is it, exactly? Do you have to worry about anything while giving it to your pet? Today we’ll take a look into milk thistle’s possible benefits for dogs and a few of the other health issues it may be used to treat.

Table of Contents

• What Does the Liver Do?
• What Is Milk Thistle?
• Benefits of Milk Thistle for Dogs
• Signs of Liver Damage
• Milk Thistle Dosage for Dogs
• How Long Does It Take for Milk Thistle to Start Working?
• Is Milk Thistle Safe for Dogs?
• The Takeaway
• Nutrition Strength Liver Support for Dogs

Check out our Nutrition Strength Liver Support for Dogs here.

What Does the Liver Do?

You can rely on the strength of your dog’s liver. It removes dangerous germs and toxins from your dog’s blood, aids in digestion and absorption of nutrients, and stores and releases blood sugar to fuel the body’s functions. So it is a vital organ.

Furthermore, this isn’t the end of it. The liver performs more than 500 processes, including blood clotting, and aids in your dog’s immune system. When it comes to your dog’s health, having a healthy liver is necessary.

The following agents may cause liver failure in dogs: viruses, bacteria, drugs, toxins, free radicals and inflammation. So that is why, as a dog owner, you have to be careful about their development.

What can you do to keep your dog’s liver healthy as he gets older? A build-up of dangerous germs in the liver may cause it to malfunction over time.

The prevention and restoration of good liver function may be achieved with a regular liver detox that reduces inflammation and removes toxins from the system.

Dogs’ livers may benefit from milk thistle, which is frequently suggested by both traditional and integrative veterinary practitioners.

What Is Milk Thistle?

Dietary milk thistle dog liver supplement milk thistle, also known as Silybum marianum, is consumed for its therapeutic effects. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties have been attributed to the prickly flower of the same name for hundreds of years.

In most milk thistle supplements, the active element is silymarin, which may be found in measured amounts in the herb.

In addition to silybin, isosilibyn, and silycristine, milk thistle’s active component, silymarin, comprises four other chemicals. Among these chemicals, silybin is the most potent and may be given intravenously in situations of mushroom poisoning.

Antioxidants such as silymarin and the silybin active component defend against free radicals and poisons. Some tumors may also be reduced by boosting protein production inside liver cells, which aids in regeneration and repair.

Milk thistle is natural liver support for dogs that can also benefit humans. A large portion of the information we utilize is derived from research conducted on people rather than canines.

Benefits of Milk Thistle for Dogs

While silymarin has been widely examined, it is safe and helpful in treating many liver illnesses and other ailments. As a result, the liver is protected from toxins, protein synthesis is activated, and the creation of new liver cells to replace damaged or dead ones are stimulated. Milk thistle’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties make it an excellent supplement for those with many health issues.

The bile and liver contain silymarin in large concentrations (it also reaches significant levels in the lungs, pancreas, prostate and skin). Hepatic lipidosis, chronic hepatitis, cholangitis and pericholangitis may be treated (inflammation of the tissue around the bile ducts).

Thinning the bile may help prevent or cure gallstones. With IBD, the liver / bile system and pancreas are often inflamed simultaneously. Dogs with IBD may benefit from milk thistle because of its positive effects on the liver and bile systems.

Suppose your dog has had treatment for cancer, immunizations, or a disease like a parvovirus. In that case, milk thistle should be considered a recovery help.

Researchers discovered that silymarin has powerful preventive effects against tumor promotion. According to a human investigation, the normalizing actions of milk thistle on red blood cells have a role in diabetes mellitus.

A frequent consequence of diabetes, known as diabetic neuropathy, causes the nerves in the lower limbs to degenerate, which results in weakness and an irregular gait.

Milk thistle’s potent antioxidant, free-radical scavenging activity, capacity to protect glutathione supply and direct actions on immune cells contribute to a healthy immune system. Because glutathione is predominantly kept in the liver, its levels diminish with time. This protein’s loss may speed up the aging process.

Even though milk thistle isn’t precisely the fountain of youth, it has a broad range of good benefits for the body. However, bear in mind that some herbalists believe milk thistle is best utilized to treat an existing problem than to prevent it.

According to experimental research, moderate usage of milk thistle is safe. Still, long-term use of extremely high doses of milk thistle may ultimately impair liver function.

Signs of Liver Damage

Damage and sickness to the liver are hazardous. It may be lethal if left untreated. Find some of the most prevalent indicators of liver impairment, so you can get in touch with your veterinarian and begin treatment as soon as possible. Here are some of them:

• Loss of appetite;
• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes);
• Dark or brown urine;
• Pale gums;
• Rapid weight loss;
• Lethargy.

Milk thistle’s main ingredient, silymarin, helps cleanse the liver. In other words it is working as liver support for dogs. As a result, toxins accumulate in the liver and cause inflammation, impaired cell cycle and decreased liver function. Milk thistle is also known for its detoxifying properties.

• It promotes the regeneration of healthy liver cells and repairing of damaged ones.
• The naturally occurring antioxidant glutathione, which is depleted with age, slows the aging process in your dog’s body.
• Milk thistle protects healthy cells from oxidative stress and disease-causing free radicals as a potent antioxidant.
• Milk thistle for dogs has anti-inflammatory effects that help decrease liver inflammation.
• It aids in the removal of histamine accumulated as a result of immunological response (which can cause overreactions and can worsen allergy symptoms).

Milk Thistle Dosage for Dogs

Different amounts of milk thistle may be prescribed for treating a problem and avoiding liver damage in dogs. The most common advice for a dog’s detoxification is a modest one.

Preventing toxic build-up and maintaining liver function may be achieved by taking 2 – 5 mg per pound. Once or twice a year for 3 – 6 weeks, this detox may help keep your liver healthy by flushing out toxins built up over the previous year or two.

A greater milk thistle dosage for dogs with chronic illness or weak liver function is needed to repair some of the damage already done. However, you should always consult with your veterinarian before administering dosages this high to your dog.

How Long Does It Take for Milk Thistle to Start Working?

There is no definitive answer to this question, as it is very dependent on the dog’s health status as to whether or not you will observe any changes.

It may take some time for milk thistle supplements to significantly affect dogs with severe or chronic conditions. Various circumstances may react more positively than others.

Is Milk Thistle Safe for Dogs?

Milk thistle is usually healthy for dogs in the past. However, it has not been thoroughly studied to see whether milk thistle is safe for pregnant dogs to use. Milk thistle should not be given to these pets unless specifically instructed by a veterinarian.

Moreover, keep in mind that milk thistle is not a one-size-fits-all treatment. It’s recommended to use it to clean up toxins in your pet’s liver, however your vet should always be consulted if your pet has a medical condition.

The Takeaway

Milk thistle is an increasingly popular and frequently used herbal supplement that often receives the support of medical experts, including veterinarians, despite the need for additional research into its properties.

When it comes to “alternative” medicine, this is one of the rare situations where it has successfully crossed over into the mainstream.

Until further higher-quality scientific studies are conducted, we won’t know all of the advantages of milk thistle. Aside from the little evidence that canine hepatic support may help cure canine liver disease, it has minimal adverse effects.

However, before giving your dog milk thistle, as with any other supplement, consult your veterinarian. Your dog’s health and safety will be protected if you follow our advice.

And remember that, if your dog is on any medicine, you must consult with your veterinarian before administering milk thistle (silymarin) to him or her.

Nutrition Strength Liver Support for Dogs

Check out our Nutrition Strength Liver Support for Dogs here.

Nutrition Strength Liver Support for Dogs to Promote Natural Detoxification, with Milk Thistle for Dogs, Dandelion Root, Yellow Dock, Nettle Root, St. John’s Wort & Coenzyme Q10, 120 Chewable Tablets is a highly rated liver support for dogs supplement.

Silymarin, the active ingredient in milk thistle, has been used to protect the liver, human or otherwise, for many years. It has been demonstrated to increase the regenerative ability of the liver cells by enhancing the synthesis of DNA and RNA.

A great way to promote natural detoxification in dogs, Nutrition Strength’s premium canine hepatic support tablets help to ensure that your pet gets adequate amounts of antioxidants, including milk thistle and Coenzyme Q10 (one of the most significant lipid antioxidants).

As plenty of studies have shown that milk thistle helps protect cells from harmful agents through its antioxidant activity and radical scavenging, our supplement may help ensure that your pet gets sufficient amounts of this ancient herb.

Support anti-inflammatory defenses: studies have demonstrated that silymarin, as extract of the seeds of milk thistle, suppresses cellular inflammation by activating internal stress and repair responses. The natural compounds contained in silymarin have been shown to protect cells by various antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, proliferative and metabolic effects, resulting in diverse protective mechanisms.

Boost energy and vitality in dogs of all ages, shapes and sizes: research has shown that milk thistle has remarkable biological effects, including the ability to increase cellular vitality and to reduce lipid peroxidation.

Milk thistle can benefit the liver by intervening in various therapeutic targets, including oxidative stress and liver fat accumulation. To boost its effect, our canine hepatic support formula also features dandelion root, yellow dock, nettle root, St. John’s wort and CoQ10.

Image source: Wikimedia / Gabyrlo.