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Preamble (or in this case, pre-Bramble!)
The following is the first of 10 cases which I presented in my VetMFHom examination case book in 1997. Unfortunately, much of our personal belongings was lost by the removal company in our move to Germany from the UK in 2017, including all of my professional certificates, and all of the notes and histories of my more interesting homeopathic cases, which I had retained in the hope of sharing them at a later stage. However, I recently unearthed my old case book while unpacking some boxes - finally after nearly 6 years. Don’t ask, let’s just say it has been a challenging time! The homeopathy is very basic – all cases were taken before I took my Faculty entrance exam – but perhaps they could be of interest nonetheless. I plan to present one case per journal for the next ten journals, if they are of interest to the readership. They will be written exactly as presented in the original case book; please excuse any grammatical failures – I hope my writing skills have developed somewhat since then!. Additional observations and discussion will be proffered at the end of each case.
Patient
King Charles Spaniel “Bramble”; Female (entire); DoB November 1990 (aged 4 years when seen).
Social history
Lives at home with the single owner and two other dogs, a Yorkshire terrier and another King Charles Spaniel bitch.
Presenting problem
Recurrent spasmodic abdominal pain
History of present complaint
Seen in December 1992 with acute haemorrhagic gastro-enteritis; cleared after ten days of conventional therapy (anti-emetics, antibiotics). Subsequently developed bouts of abdominal pain and colitis about one month later. Signs included ineffectual straining with no relief from passage of stool; some mucous and blood seen. Mercurius solubilis was given as an acute remedy, and although his signs cleared rapidly, they recurred within two days of being stopped.
From this time onwards there were continual bouts of recurrent abdominal pain, with abdominal gurgling and wind. The owner controlled these with light diets and gripe water, usually, but occasionally anti-spasmodics (Buscopan) and antibacterials (usually Salazopyrin) were also used.
Acute homeopathic remedies used included Nux vomica for colitis and tenesmus associated with nausea without vomiting (no effect) and Colocynth for acute spasms seen (no effect).
The usual presentation was: Acute abdominal pain, >doubling up, warmth (hot water bottle), rubbing, <touch. On this basis Magnesium phosphoricum was prescribed as an acute remedy with marked success, although recurrence was not prevented.
Past history
Routine vaccinations as pup and annually.
Occasional anal gland irritation relieved by manual evacuation.
Regular false pregnancies, either not treated or given Vit B12. One episode successfully treated with Sepia 30c.
Cases from the Archive no. 1 – Pre-Bramble By Mark Carpenter, Germany