Page 5 - Winter 21-22

Holly is a 3year old Labrador who had just given birth to 7 pups.
I see her a week after because one of the pups is not putting on weight as the others. It is too agitated when it grabs a teat and drops off looking to find it again and then finding on another teat, then searching again and so on, all the time suckling with great gusto. It looks like a clumsiness as if it is too hungry and does not take time to feed properly. But it is nicely asleep with the other pups at other times. The pup seems clinically fine.
Then the owner mentions that Holly is not eating well. Her temperature is 38.7, she has a normal minimal discharge but her mammary glands are hard congested and the back two have a very knobbly appearance. A few drops of milk from free from the back glands. The pups do not want to drink from the back mammary glands which are the most affected.
‘She seems uncomfortable when the pups drink and then turns to lie on her back.’’ She gave birth to the 7 pups in about three hours, all went very well, she is a good mother. She cleans the pups and stays with them all the time. When I examine her in the back of the car, she is lying in her dog bed and looks almost exhausted; she responds to us but all her enthusiasm of a normal Labrador seems to have gone.
Repertorisation: (complete repertory)
Because I get the impression this is about overdoing the lactation, I chose to prescribe Phytolacca.
Lm3 twice per day.
The next day the owner rings to say they have their dog back: she is eating normally again, she is lively again and the puppies are now drinking from the back mammary glandsagain.
Over 2 of the knobbly aspects of the mammary glands at the back, the skin pealed off leaving a raw patch. The patch
is not painful and heals over quickly without treatment. The puppy is drinking normally again after the owner fed it with artificial milk a few times.
Phytolacca is of course a well-known medicine for mammary gland issues. It also has a predilection for the throat. Phytolacca has a hard life (or has the impression of having a hard life), forced to work hard and be inventive to make sure he/she can live on. There is so much to do and they need to keep going to keep the family going.
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continued on p4