Page 11 - Winter 17

Case Two – Misty, 14 year-old Scottish Fold. Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) with bloody mucoid feces, collapse, and anemia. In May 2015, her guardian thought she would die, and she had to revive Misty with Arsenicum album and Carbo vegetabilis. She also was hospitalized at a university clinic. The diagnosis was severe anemia with a galloping heartbeat as a probable consequence of the anemia, which likely resulted from the IBD and intestinal bleeding. The guardian described the collapse and then her current condition as follows: ‘Misty turned away from me, crossed her front legs, collapsed and fell to the floor, went limp, tongue out, stopped breathing, eyes dilated, defecated. I thought she was choking and I picked her up and was lifting her, compressing her belly and chest, to try to dislodge the obstruction. Then I ran and gave her homeopathic treatments all within a minute or so. [Currently] Misty has a galloping heartbeat and I don’t like the way she looks. One eye looks a bit “off”, the white will show on one eye, but not the other. She breathes in and out heavily and has an unsteady head when she lifts up from resting.’ She was also eating cat litter; she was very very ill. My initial intake was about a week after this collapse, and she was still quite sick and we were unsure if she would survive.
Clearly this is a long history of autoimmune illness with the colitis, but as an acute treatment, since the Arsenicum had helped (along with the Carb veg), I had the guardian repeat Arsenicum album, and I also had her start some Ferrum phosphoricum 6X three times daily to support her immune system and the anemia. We also used a ‘liver shake’ formula, with raw liver, carrot juice, egg, and blue-green algae. Over the next two weeks she improved, although she developed some breathing difficulties wherein she seemed to have to force her inhalation. We continued the Ferrum phos and repeated the Ars one time, and gradually this also improved. She then developed some skin licking and lesions, and she was hiding under the bed most of the time. She had done this previously as well. She especially hides from the female guardian, ‘Jean.’ She is closer to ‘Robert,’ the man. She is not affectionate with Jean. She’ll sleep with Robert, but not Jean.
She normally never leaves their bedroom. She lives in the bedroom, does not like to be touched. At the initial consult, in May, shortly after the collapse, Jean asked me, ‘What can I give to calm her down, to get her out from under the bed? I told her we will need a constitutional remedy for that, but we will need to start with acute remedies, especially as I was considering a lanthanide but they would not have this (they are long-distance clients).
Jean also said, ‘We have 2 dogs and 5 cats. Misty quarantines herself. Her father, the male cat, lived behind a toilet. I think Misty has the same mental issue.’
Even at the initial intake, I was considering Cerium, Lanthanum, or Barium salts. I felt she was probably left-sided, although the anemia indicates possibly syphilitic tendencies, which might bring a right-sided lanthanide. But the big aggravation started after some cheap dry food, so it was probably more of a sycotic outbreak, with bleeding from the intestines rather than blood cell destruction. Furthermore, the anion in a salt remedy could cover the pathology of the anemia.
After a month, she was more stable, but the hiding continued and she had lost two pounds since the episode began. Her feces were small, but mostly from the acute treatment. So it was time to look further, towards the lanthanide. Other general aspects include chilliness, always preferring sun and warmth. She would sleep with Robert, perhaps for the warmth. She even sleeps under the blanket. She vomited some hairballs, and she was jumpy with sounds. Robert also said she was extremely sensitive: ‘She is also really smart. She could be on the bed and we are at the other end of the house or even outside talking about taking her to the vet and she goes under the bed. Super sensitive.’
I asked about her relationship to the other cats: ‘Pretty good with all. We have one male cat (Elvis), and he jumps on all the other cats. Chases them. We can tell when he is in the room, because she starts growling. Doesn’t run away from him. But he can just touch her and she freaks out.’
It was a bit of a stretch, as Elvis picks on everyone, but Misty reacted much more strongly than the others. As Lanthanum has the characteristic of teasing and being teased, I chose Lanthanum over Cerium or Barium. And I chose the phosphate salt, because of the bleeding, the jumpiness to noise, and the arguably clairvoyant behavior. I gave Lanthanum phosphoricum C200.
After only a week, Jean said ‘Misty seems much better with her skittishness after her last remedy treatment. She isn’t living under the bed anymore. She is a lot more affectionate with me. I was surprised she came into bed last night and put her head on
my arm and was purring. I always felt she merely tolerated me, and she never would come to me on her own. Now she lets me pat her and she doesn’t run away.’ She continued to improve, had one relapse, and then a repeat got her back out from under the bed.
Now that she is 16, she has developed some bladder and kidney issues and we have moved to other remedies. So perhaps the Lanthanum was not the total constitutional remedy, but I think it was correct at the time, as emotionally it greatly improved her life. She no longer confined herself to under the bed, or even to the bedroom. She began to reintegrate into the house. Her skin problems disappeared, and she never had further issues with the IBD. And perhaps the kidney issues were unavoidable, as she is a purebred with years of vaccinations and conventional treatment prior to the homeopathic treatment. She remains active and happy.
Conclusion
Lanthanide remedies, indeed, seem to bring new hope and possibilities to the huge numbers of animals who suffer from autoimmune diseases these days. And I’m sure they are not limited to those with autoimmune disease, although we are a bit hard-pressed now to find a case without an autoimmune component. I strongly recommend studying these remedies, so we can all learn better how to apply them in our patients.
Furthermore, I am admittedly biased, as I am rather fond of cats, but I believe lanthanide remedies may resonate deeply with cats, who are nothing if not intrinsically wired for independence and autonomy. Autonomy for cats ranks with running for horses or flying with (most) birds – an essential nature which, when thwarted, may create deep disturbances. Does this mean all cats should have lanthanide remedies? I would not say so, but I would probably at least consider them in most cases.
1,2 http://www.encyclopedia.com/science- and-technology/chemistry/compounds-and- elements/lanthanide-series
3 Dictionary 2.2.1, Apple Computer, based upon the New Oxford American Dictionary, Third Edition.
References and Further Study Information:
LeRoux, Patricia. The Actinides in Homeopathy: Uranium, Plutonium and other Radioactive Substances of the Uranium Series, Kandern, Germany, Naranaya Publishers, 2013
Moonan, Resie, The Essence of the Lanthanides (video), Kandern, Germany, Naranaya Verlag, 2014
Lanthanides for Children (video), Kandern, Germany, Naranaya
Verlag, 2014
Plouvier-Suijs, Margriet. The Last Series Actinium, Uranium, Plutonium and others The Netherlands, Emryss Publishers, 2012
Sankaran, Rajan. Structure (Experiences with the Mineral Kingdom), Kandern, Germany, Naranaya Publishers, 2008
Scholten, Jan. Homeopathy and Minerals, Utrecht, The Netherlands, Stichting Alonissos, 1993
Homeopathy and the Elements, Utrecht, The Netherlands, Stichting Alonissos, 1996
The Secret Lanthanides, Utrecht, The Netherlands, Stichting Alonissos, 2005
Element Theory chart, Utrecht, The Netherlands, Stichting Alonissos, 2008
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