Page 16 - Autumn 22

Ms. Dove By Lori D. Leonard, Australia
Ms. Dove was a collared dove, hatched on 2 August 2002 in Tennessee (US). She was rescued from a golf course in Georgia in September 2002, where she had been released with another dove during a wedding ceremony. From there, they traveled to North Carolina and then to Virginia, when they were donated to me at my clinic. Both doves laid eggs for a number of years. The other female dove died around Christmas of 2005. Ms. Dove enjoyed her status of being the waiting room greeter and comic relief for all the animals (and people) who entered. She ate tiny seeds whole, preferring the small round seeds to the pointy elongated ones. She had a dish of “gravel” consisting of crushed oyster shell plus charcoal for her crop. Sometimes she just picked up the gravel and tossed it into the cage on the sides of her dish. I never knew if she was playing. She evidently ingested enough to grind apart the seeds. She drank water out of a dish. Once a week, on Saturday, we would give her a large bowl with tepid water for her to take her bath in. The dish was actually sold as a dog’s water bowl!
She had three main vocalizations – number one the familiar coo of her species; number two sounded like a laugh and often humans joined in with her, laughing; and number three sounded just like a rooster at sunrise. Dogs would point or sit at her cage and be total statues, not moving at all. Often that was the only time those dogs had good behavior at the clinic! She commanded attention and knew that she was safe.
At one point, Ms. Dove had a large swelling on the left side of her head. As with other occasions of our “house” animals, I did not keep written notes. At least I have looked around and not found them! I did not do any diagnostics because I knew that I would not be taking her to surgery.
Ms. Dove continued to eat, drink, and evacuate normally. There was no drainage to the exterior. Eventually the swelling went away, and Ms. Dove’s left eye was gone. She never acted disabled because of being a one-eyed dove.
The clinic was computerized in 2014 and this included a router that transmitted a signal in the clinic. Shortly after this was initiated, Ms. Dove did not act normally. Once the router was turned off, Ms. Dove acted fine. I saw first-hand the harmful effects of WiFi. The practice continues to be free of WiFi and am glad that I can offer a sanctuary of less radiation to my patients and their people.
On 27th May 2019, Ms Dove was not doing
well. Her left wing was drooped. She would
not perch, and she didn’t eat. She was
unsteady, and weak on her left side. Her droppings were liquid rather than the normal mixture of solids and liquid. I figured she wasn’t going to be around much longer, so I supported her with flower essences.
On 28th May 2019, she was still alive so I gave her Arnica 30C once daily for the next 4 days. How does one give Arnica 30C to a dove, you ask? I dissolved one pilule in 4mls of water and put one drop of water up to her beak with a syringe and she swallowed the remedy. She didn’t look very good. Her ventrum was flat on the cage floor, with her feathers puffed out, neck outstretched, and labored breathing. The sound she made was like air going out of a balloon—a noisy exhalation. I gave her water by mouth with a pipette, and she turned away from seeds.
There was no known trauma or inciting event. Why did I choose Arnica? I figured Ms Dove was dying and knew that Arnica is a great remedy for trauma, shock, head injury, and cardiac signs. It turns out that Arnica is useful in stroke victims.
On 30th May 2019, Ms Dove flew up to her perch!! She ate seeds out of her crock and held her head and neck normally. She made a complete recovery from what may have been a stroke. Arnica certainly helped Ms Dove immensely. This was a rapid and complete improvement — in three days, going from a moribund state to normal is nothing short of miraculous.....or homeopathy!
Ms. Dove continued to do well until she died on 16 Feb 2020. I miss her very much.
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