When should my dog get blood work? Is milk thistle safe for his liver?

Bloodwork is typically done around 6 months of age before anesthesia for a spay or neuter. There is no set time that it should be done. Typically, if a dog is ill or requires sedation/anesthesia, then bloodwork is done to diagnose or to make sure the pet can undergo anesthesia. Some owners choose to have bloodwork done yearly as part of the physical exam. If Bruno has never had bloodwork, you can have your vet do it if only to obtain a healthy/normal baseline for comparison in case Bruno ever gets sick.

If he is generally well then bloodwork every couple of years to record a normal level for him and to identify any changes is sufficient. From age 6-7years on then yearly testing can be helpful for early intervention

Actually this is true in the case of kidneys. It take up to 75% of the nephrons to fail in kidneys before symptoms are seen of kidney disease. It's always good to have blood work done on any dog, even healthy ones. Because our dogs cannot tell us if they are feeling sick or not, these tests are needed to make sure everything is healthy. In addition, many dogs will show no sign of illness until they are extremely sick. You can't know for sure if your dog is healthy without these tests, so if your vet is recommending doing the blood work, I suggest going along with your vet's recommendation.

Screening wellness blood work can be helpful to establish a baseline or catch problems early. I often recommend a mini panel to establish a baseline around 5 years of age, and then yearly screening blood work starting at 7-8 years of age. I think a blood panel would be very helpful for Brownie.

Dogs are typically given milk thistle in combination with Vitamin E, Zinc and s-adenosyl methionine for liver disease. The dose is usually lower when used with these other supplements. Doses ranging from 5 mg/kg to 50 mg/kg per day have been reported to likely be safe, so 400 mg twice daily would be within this dose range. I do not typically recommend giving this supplement unless there is evidence of underlying liver disease because it is not likely to be helpful. There does not seem to be evidence of kidney disease or other problems when milk thistle supplements are used long term in dogs, but there are no studies in dogs without liver disease. I would recommend checking with your veterinarian before starting this supplement since it can potentially cause problems when given in conjunction with some other medications.

There are many different causes that would include hepatitis (which can be bacterial or sterile), cancer, or an issue with his gallgladder. The next step I would recommend is an abdominal ultrasound with fine needle aspirate (FNA) to try to get some information about what is going on in the liver, and possibly a biopsy of the liver after that. The other courses of action is to try treating him to various medications to see if anything helps -- however this doesn't really make sense if he has no signs of illness. Or finally, doing nothing and checking again in 2 months to see if they are rising or staying the same. Sometimes we decide not to get to the bottom of something when there are no clinical signs.

A large breed dog is considered a senior around 7 years of age. Milk thistle is used in some dogs mainly as liver support. The most common side effect is diarrhea. Because it is a supplement and not a medication there haven't been many studies done but anecdotally it carries few risks. You can read more at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1779