Fatty Liver Disease treatment - Milk Thistle?

[SnixPOP]

Hello i am new member..have a 27 yr old female Goffins Cockie...would like to know IF any member out there has had experience with good or bad results using Mike Thistle to help out the liver....if good what specific product did u use and what was the dosage? how long using?
Am certainly open and looking for any other input to help with this problem
thanks..Mike

 

[noodles123]

Yes- Umbrella Cockatoo had serious liver issues when I got her. The vet put her on a mixture of milk thistle and lactUlose (not lactose....!!) which is intended to prevent seizure due excess ammonia in the blood (as a result of liver issues). The medication was orange and had to be refrigerated. Her liver issue was discovered after I insisted on a CBC. I know she ate a lot of bad foods before I got her, but for at least a month, I know she had only had pellets and minimal seed (which means it was likely a long-term issue). I am her 4th home- she is 11. There are OTC bird supplements with milk thistle in them, but I do believe that the lactulose is extremely important....At the time of the diagnosis, my vet told me to limit fat and protein (she said high protein foods were bad for a bird with liver issues). Sugar and anything else (e.g., preservatives, medications etc) were also to be limited...that having been said, things were desperate enough that the vet approved me sneaking the meds onto mini Nilla Wafers (as that was the only way Noodles would consume it....)
So, I hope that gives you hope. Things were looking pretty serious (tears at the vet serious) and she is fine now..


I religiously gave mine roughly 1/2 ml 2x daily for a few months (roughly 3) and her liver levels are fine now.


EDIT- I should add that you need to make sure your vet is involved because you will need to make sure that you have an idea as to what may have caused the liver issues...There are some viruses out there that can damage the liver as well....If you use milk thistle, make sure that it is not suspended in alcohol...I would have your vet mix it up and determine the dosage.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Hi!
In case you don't have a vet, or might like a second opinion ---
Certified Avian Vets
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
If none are near you...
Avian Veterinarians
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
In my opinion, any of the vets listed here should be better than a regular vet.
International contacts, too.

 

[EllenD]

I'll second the input from either a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet FIRST, BEFORE giving your bird anything at all, as it depends on what is actually causing the Liver issues to whether or not Lactulose, Milk Thistle, or anything else will help or hinder your bird's issues...Also, if your bird has Kidney issues in addition to the Liver issues, as they often do, then things get a bit more complicated, because certain things that can make the Liver better will make the Kidneys worse and vice-versa...And that's the same reason that feeding them a high level of protein is not good in this situation, because it will tend to cause secondary Kidney issues, such as visceral Gout, as it causes them to not be able to rid their bodies of Uric Acid and Creatinine...

***How do you know your Cockatoo has Fatty Liver DIsease? I'm going to assume that you already have a CAV or Avian Specialist Vet and you've already had complete Blood-Work and X-Rays if you know that your bird has Fatty Liver Disease...If not and you're just guessing or assuming that he does due to a previously poor, high fat diet, then that's not at all necessarily true, so you don't want to ever give anything at all, prescription or holistic supplement, until you know for sure what your bird's Liver and Kidney values actually are, and what the underlying cause of any issues in his levels are being caused by...

That being said, specifically for treating Fatty Liver Disease and other Liver tissue damage, Milk Thistle is one of the most effective herbal/holistic treatments in the world. It's WIDELY USED to treat Fatty Liver Disease in bird/parrots, reptile/amphibians, dogs, cats, rodents, and humans, and it works better than any prescription Liver medications I'm aware of...But as already mentioned by Noodles, it is boosted by the use of Lactulose depending on what the underlying cause of the Liver Disease is, and whether or not there is also Kidney Disease as well, and the only way to know that is by complete Blood-Work, Fecal Cultures and Microscopy, and an X-Ray. You don't want to just start giving your bird Milk Thistle if you haven't already done all this with a CAV or Avian Specialist Vet who has much education and experience in treating Liver/Kidney Disease in Parrots, they've done all of this appropriate testing, gotten the results, and you've developed a treatment plan AS WELL AS A SPECIALIZED DIET together with the CAV...