Page 22 - Summer 22

A simple but classic case By Susan Andresie, UK
My patient appeared anxious, jumping up onto his owner’s lap for reassurance, jumping down, wandering around the room as if looking for something, then jumping up again. The owner reported that the dog was looking for his sister and hated to be separated from either the owner or her sister. My patient was a very sweet and cute looking bichon with a Tina Turneresque haircut, it didn’t really want to make eye contact or come and say hello to me.
When talking about the primary complaint the owner said: ‘it (the symptoms) had been see-sawing every 7-10 days for several months, one moment the dog is all good – bouncy, eating well, all fine, then one morning it has its head down, stops eating or drinking much, eats grass and is often sick with undigested food, passes motions with blood and mucus, normally the motions are nice and firm’. ‘The dog has stopped jumping up onto my lap/sofa as much as it used to, it stopped wanting to go for walks, which it used to love, would sit down and want to be carried on a walk’.
The owner couldn’t think that there was a pattern, only that perhaps it happened more often the only time both her and her sister went out together for a weekly ballet class and she was left alone.
‘It (the dog) isn’t brave, wants reassurance and to be picked up all of the time, it follows me all around the house even to the toilet’.
‘When the dog is ill it becomes even more clingy’. ‘Sometimes the dog will chew at its tummy and paws ferociously, but there is no rash or lesions’
‘It has big eyes, is very sweet, but sometimes barks, sometimes grumbles, but it is very intelligent, easy to
train, always wants O to do things for it, gets into trouble’ ‘It is very bouncy, needs to go out in the garden all the time, loves the outdoors. Very lively’
’18 months ago my mother passed away – it misses her, looks for her around the house’
‘It is very intelligent – manages to get me to do things for it, or gets me to do what it wants, before I have realised what is happening’
From the last comment combined with all the other comments I was pretty sure of the remedy.
Here is my repertorisation – I have removed any rubrics too large or too small. For example Stool: Bloody, or Stool: Mucus have over 250 remedies so I have taken them out in this case. I have concentrated on the rubrics that I felt were the most important for the case.
given to females), His appearance was very ‘pretty’, and he lived in an all-female household – so the female influence
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I gave Pulsatilla in a 200c split dose, even though the physical gastrointestinal rubrics are not closely aligned with the remedy. I felt that the emotional rubrics were enough to be sure that this was a good remedy for the dog.
We associate Pulsatilla with all things female but often it can be needed for male patients. This little dog was male but interestingly his name was Bonnie (a name normally
on him was very strong.
4 weeks later at the follow up consultation Bonnie’s owner reported that he had, had no further episodes at all. His anxiety and clinginess was very much improved. He was now jumping up onto the owners lap or the sofa with no problems at all.
A very simple but satisfying case for me.