Page 21 - Winter 2011

dose if any obvious changes were seen and to contact me. I suggested a home prepared diet, and caution around children. The local vet dis- couraged the home prepared diet, and the owner did not return for her one month follow up appointment.
In February 2005, Billy returned. The biting problem was worse; after her Rabies vaccina- tion in spring 2004 she bit the owner badly. The owner was now feeding a home prepared diet. We resumed the Hyoscyamus drops once daily. By May 2005 the behaviour seemed much improved with Hyoscyamus LM 1, one drop a day or so before company was expected.
I didn’t see Billy again until Feb 2006. In June 2005, Billy had a consult with a behav- ioural specialist, and she was treated with flu- oxetine. The owner did not like the way Billy acted on the fluoxetine, and she was biting people, particularly when food was involved. The owner had discontinued the Hyoscyamus LM 1 because she had difficulty giving the drops, so we switched to Hyoscyamus 30 C granules. Initially Billy got a dose every few days, we gradually spaced this out so that now she gets a dose every 4 to 6 weeks, when she starts to “have bad thoughts” according to the owner.
There have been problems during her treat- ment. Billy does not do well with sedatives and surgery. The owner, against my advice, had some benign cysts removed in November 2006. One of the sites dehisced, and during the prolonged granulation period, Billy bit the owner quite badly in the face (the owner was bending over to tie her trainers) necessitating plastic surgery. The owner had been planning to give the Hyoscyamus that day, but hadn’t yet had a chance. She has since been very careful about giving the remedy as soon as she feels Billy would benefit from it.
In July 2007, cytology of a 1 cm mass between Billy’s scapulae was suspicious for a mast cell tumour. We switched Billy back off kibble to the home prepared diet again, and started some supplements: salmon oil, flavonoids, quercetin, and bromelain. The mass gradually disappeared over the course of the next six months. At this writing, almost 8 years after I first saw Billy, she is doing well with her aggression issues. She does have pancreatitis, which is controlled by diet. She gets acupunc- ture treatments for her back and hip stiffness. From this dog I learned to make sure that peo- ple are able to do the prescribed treatment, and change the dose form if it is not suitable.
Shadow
A nine year old neutered male Pixie-Bob pre- sented in June of 2007. In the past few years, Shadow had become particularly unpredictable with strangers, and he would scratch or bite if he didn’t want to be touched. He hid or trem- bled from relatively minor noises, such as the oven timer and the hand vacuum, and he was even more fearful of thunder. Shadow had a history of severe gastrointestinal upset as a kitten. This resolved with raw diet and homeopathic prescribing. Another homeopathic vet had pre-
scribed Nux vomica 6 C to be give twice weekly for irritability and excessive grooming of his groin. He was receiving this when he presented.
Shadow, in the hospital, is a very scary cat. I can touch his head if (and only if) he rubs it under my hand. He walks around the room, alerting to every sound outside. He jumps up on the table and settles on my papers, hissing at me when I come near. He has to be sedated for an exam and blood work, as he turns and swats at any unsolicited touch. Wrapping him in a towel or scruffing him results in a feline explo- sion, but he is quite calm about having the tank put over him for gas induction. The owner reports that he enjoys brushing, and she can clip his claws at home with no restraint as she has done it since kittenhood. The owner is attuned to Shadow’s moods as to when she performs these procedures. If Shadow’s people do not do what he wants, when he wants it, such as opening doors for him, he will hiss at them.
He is quite affectionate, though he will hiss or scratch if he doesn’t want to be touched. When the adult daughter of the family hasn’t visited for a while, Shadow will swat at her at least once before she is ‘allowed’ to stroke him. Shadow wants to be near his female owner as much as possible, staying in her piano studio while she is teaching. He is very playful for an adult cat, and remarkably sympathetic. Over three years into Shadow’s treatment this sym- pathy was dramatically illustrated when he assigned himself as 24 hour nurse to the adult daughter who was undergoing treatment for a highly aggressive osteosarcoma. Shadow spent all his time beside her, even when painful treatments had to be carried out. He is fed raw, yet he has noticeable gingivitis; the only abnor- mality on his physical exam. Blood work was unremarkable except his TT4 was 38.4 nmol/L (3ug/dL), and fT4 was 59 pmol/L, so Shadow is hyperthyroid.
The rubrics used for repertorisation were:
MIND, Courageous
MIND, Dictatorial
MIND, Fear of thunderstorms MIND, Jealousy
MIND, Starting from noise MOUTH, Inflammation – Gums ABDOMEN, Itching GENERALS, Hyperthyroidism
GENERALS, Trembling, Externally, from anxiety
The remedies which appeared prominently in the analysis were Lachesis, Phosphorus, Mercuris, Sulphur, Conium. Lycopodium, Arsenicum alb, Sepia.
The owner could get medication in Shadow’s mouth once in a while, but not every day. I frequently have clients give LM potencies as nose drops, and the owner did not think this would be a problem. Nux vomica was discon- tinued, and treatment with Lachesis LM 1 was begun. Within one week of beginning daily dos- ing, Shadow acted more tolerant of people out- side his family and allowed a few adult piano students to pet him. His noise sensitivity was decreased as well, shown when he ignored the oven timer. After a few weeks of daily dosing the dose frequency was decreased; the remedy is now given when Shadow gets ‘hissy’. The dose frequency interval continues to lengthen; it is now every six to eight weeks. Normal T4 levels were recorded in August ’09 at his annu- al physical, and they have remained normal, along with his physical, CBC, SuperChem and urinalysis results. At Shadow’s last two annual physicals, I was able to stroke him several times before we sedated him; at the last phys- ical I was also able to auscult him.
In December ’07, Shadow began grooming his groin excessively again, plucking that area bald. The ‘barbering’ was not responsive to an increase in the frequency of his constitutional remedy. Morgan-Gaertner, the bowel nosode associated with Shadow’s constitutional reme- dy, was prescribed; the barbering stopped two days after a single 9 C dose. Since then a single dose of Morgan-Gaertner has been repeated as needed when Shadow begins barbering. It is never given on the same day as Shadow’s con- stitutional remedy, and the required frequency varies between once a month to once every three months.
Shadow is an exceptionally good case because his owner is an excellent observer and incredibly sensible about Shadow’s aggression problem. This is the sort of case that might well have regressed had the owner resumed the Nux which Shadow’s excessive grooming recurred. In both of these cases, it was impor- tant that the caretaker be able to recognize when their pet needed a repeat of their remedy. This appears to prevent unprovoked aggression in both animals, though I still muzzle Billy and