EllenD
New member
- Aug 20, 2016
- 3,979
- 68
- Parrots
- Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Awe, poor Gracie...Yes, the Milk Thistle is a wonder-medicine for not only liver-detox, but for actually treating Fatty Liver Disease, as well as "Liver Diseases" in-general. It encourages actual liver-regeneration, and it is one of the "natural" supplements that really does work miracles for the livers of birds, reptiles, dogs, cats, rodents, and yes, people.
As for the Vitamin D, that could be for skin/feathers, but if Gracie is underweight, which probably indicates that she's also malnourished and is most-likely suffering from some nutritional deficiencies, then the Vitamin D mix is most-likely being given to her to encourage the digestion/processing/absorption of other important vitamins/minerals, such as Calcium and Phosphorous, as well as improving immune-system function in a bird who is suffering any nutritional deficiencies. So based on Gracie just being underweight, the treatments that your CAV has chosen of both Milk Thistle and a Vitamin D complex are fantastic, efficient, and safe choices, and will most-likely result in Gracie's appetite, weight, energy levels, and overall-health all increasing very quickly...Now to just get them in her without you losing your hands...
***Yes, putting the liquid Milk Thistle and the Vitamin D complex in fruit juice, oatmeal, grits, bread, pudding, or any other solid foods or drinks that Gracie loves the most usually will work. I myself use orange juice, as they absolutely love it and ONLY GET IT when they have to take medicine, as obviously you should not feed birds any type of Citrus Fruit or Citrus Fruit Juice, due to it's promotion of the absorption of Iron they ingest in their food, which quickly leads to Iron Storage Syndrome/Iron Toxicity. So they ONLY get their favorite, Orange Juice, when they have to take a yucky, liquid medicine. ****And Orange Juice covers nasty medication-taste, especially if it's bitter, better than anything else due to it's acidity and sourness...So if you haven't tried Orange-Juice, I'd give it a shot, as they usually love it, it's something they typically never get, and it covers-up bad flavors very well...
***That said, if even the Orange Juice doesn't work, and nothing else works, then you're in luck, as both Milk Thistle and the Vitamin D complex are available in Powder Formulation, or at least Tablet Formulation!!! Since Gracie is only getting .2ml total, that equates to an extremely small amount of powder, even with fillers from the tablets...So if you're still having issues with getting Gracie to drink the liquid-formulation of the supplements, it's not worth "ruining your relationship with her", that breaks my heart for you, you're such a good daddy...So simply talk to your CAV and tell them that you'd like to try to give Gracie both the Milk Thistle and the Vitamin D complex in powder form, or at least in a tablet form that can be easily crushed and measured-out to the correct doses (also will most-likely be much cheaper than the liquid form too)...Then all you have to do is sprinkle the powder-formulation of the 2 supplements right onto either Gracie's regular, daily pellets or seed-mix, or her regular veggies, or her regular fruit, etc. The powder-formulations don't taste anything like the liquid-formulations do, in-fact they typically don't have any "taste" or flavor at all, and Gracie probably won't even notice that it's sprinkled on top of her food...
As for the Vitamin D, that could be for skin/feathers, but if Gracie is underweight, which probably indicates that she's also malnourished and is most-likely suffering from some nutritional deficiencies, then the Vitamin D mix is most-likely being given to her to encourage the digestion/processing/absorption of other important vitamins/minerals, such as Calcium and Phosphorous, as well as improving immune-system function in a bird who is suffering any nutritional deficiencies. So based on Gracie just being underweight, the treatments that your CAV has chosen of both Milk Thistle and a Vitamin D complex are fantastic, efficient, and safe choices, and will most-likely result in Gracie's appetite, weight, energy levels, and overall-health all increasing very quickly...Now to just get them in her without you losing your hands...
***Yes, putting the liquid Milk Thistle and the Vitamin D complex in fruit juice, oatmeal, grits, bread, pudding, or any other solid foods or drinks that Gracie loves the most usually will work. I myself use orange juice, as they absolutely love it and ONLY GET IT when they have to take medicine, as obviously you should not feed birds any type of Citrus Fruit or Citrus Fruit Juice, due to it's promotion of the absorption of Iron they ingest in their food, which quickly leads to Iron Storage Syndrome/Iron Toxicity. So they ONLY get their favorite, Orange Juice, when they have to take a yucky, liquid medicine. ****And Orange Juice covers nasty medication-taste, especially if it's bitter, better than anything else due to it's acidity and sourness...So if you haven't tried Orange-Juice, I'd give it a shot, as they usually love it, it's something they typically never get, and it covers-up bad flavors very well...
***That said, if even the Orange Juice doesn't work, and nothing else works, then you're in luck, as both Milk Thistle and the Vitamin D complex are available in Powder Formulation, or at least Tablet Formulation!!! Since Gracie is only getting .2ml total, that equates to an extremely small amount of powder, even with fillers from the tablets...So if you're still having issues with getting Gracie to drink the liquid-formulation of the supplements, it's not worth "ruining your relationship with her", that breaks my heart for you, you're such a good daddy...So simply talk to your CAV and tell them that you'd like to try to give Gracie both the Milk Thistle and the Vitamin D complex in powder form, or at least in a tablet form that can be easily crushed and measured-out to the correct doses (also will most-likely be much cheaper than the liquid form too)...Then all you have to do is sprinkle the powder-formulation of the 2 supplements right onto either Gracie's regular, daily pellets or seed-mix, or her regular veggies, or her regular fruit, etc. The powder-formulations don't taste anything like the liquid-formulations do, in-fact they typically don't have any "taste" or flavor at all, and Gracie probably won't even notice that it's sprinkled on top of her food...
