GME

by Steffy
(Australia)

My 7yr old, 3.2kg mini foxy was diagnosed with GME 1 month ago, and has been on 0.6ml prednisole x twice a day for the same period of time and has responded extremely positively, she is no longer ataxic, is alert & much happier. However, for the last few days she has been suffering incontinence while sleeping. Thinking that it may be a UTI caused by the steroids, I took a specimen to my vet who checked & confirmed that she does not have a UTI, all specimen results were normal except urine concentration (obviously caused by steroids/drinking larger quantities of water). She is now taking Propalin 0.1ml x twice a day which seems to be helping the incontinence. My vet has discussed changing her treatment starting next week to 4 x injections of Cytarabine over 2 days, every 3 weeks. CBD to be done after 14days to check bone marrow suppression, then all going well the prednisole will begin to be tapered off after the 2nd course of Cytarabine.
I am trying to take a holistic approach to her treatment, I have changed her diet to high fibre/low fat using a combination of a wet & dry prescription diet, along with pumpkin, sweet potato etc, snacks consist mainly of carrot sticks, melon etc. She is also doing hydrotherapy to try & get some muscle mass/tone back.
From the research I have done over the last month I understand that both the prednisole & the cytarabine can have an effect on the liver, and the cytarabine can suppress bone marrow.
I was looking at a milk thistle supplement as a preventative measure in regards to the liver.
Could you please advise if you believe Milk Thistle would be a good option in this case? would you add anything else, if so, what? What dosages would I need to look at, and are supplements safe to take in combination with the 3 x current medications?
Also, I read that oranges are a good supplement due to the citric acid to prevent UTI's, is this correct? if so, in what quantity, and is it safe to include oranges in her diet whilst taking the other medications? as I seem to recall that grapefruit interacts with some medications?
Do you have any other suggestions for treatment in this case? I apologise for the lengthiness of my query, but any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Regards,
SB.


My Comment:

Yes Milk thistle can be a possible "liver tonic"

The use of SAM-e and Sibylin (the active substance in milk thistle) is often used in veterinary medicine.

My advice to you is to discuss this with your vet as there sometimes can be a problem using some of the western medicines and supplements together. This is especially important in liver conditions as the liver has so many important detoxifying functions to do.

I would also think i would be a good idea to perform a urine culture to see which bacterias are growing.

Citric acid is one solution you can try but especially in E. Coli infections the use of cranberries can be very beneficial to use.

I am sorry but I cant help you withs the safety dose of oranges. As the citric acid main action is to kill bacterias by acting as a acid, I would guess you can give rather large amounts before having problems. I am not sure.

Grapes and possible interactions - might be true.

The details I don't have any knowledge about as here in Sweden we are very restricted by the law to use or recommend any "non scientific" treatments.

I don't use this at all in my clinic and my knowledge is therefor very sparse in this field.

All the best

Per Schonbeck