Page 18 - Winter 12/13

Personality shift after dog bite By Elizabeth Casper, Austria
Anamnesis (06.11.2012)
On a sunny Sunday aftenoon in late August, Mrs. X and her dog Felix went out for a walk. They went along the street next to small gar- dens and suddenly a dark nose came out under one of the fences and pulled Felix into the garden. Felix yelped but Mrs. X could not help him. She was not even able to see her dog, because of the dense hedge. Mrs. X found the entrance of the garden, where Felix was still fighting for his life. In the meantime the owner of the other dog (a border collie) came out of the house too and finally they
Abstract: Case report of a 2-year-old Havanese dog with nervous symptoms for 3 months after bitten by another dog. After a single dose of Lyssin most of the symptoms were cured, Aconitum was able to help the anxiousness.
Causticum and Phosphorus
By Peter Gregory, UK
It has traditionally been taught that Causticum and Phosphorus are inimical and should not be given after one another. No-one ever seems to have described what may happen if we do not follow this advice but one assumes, we should expect the patient to deteriorate in some way. A discussion among colleagues on the BAHVS forum a year or two ago revealed that most of us had taken the risk and not had any prob- lems. However one of us (our editor) reported having had a serious deterioration in a patient after such treatment. My own attitude has been that ‘if the patient appears to need a remedy, then I give it, despite what the books say’. Guidance in this comes from Audubon, the most famous ornithologist in the USA, who said ‘If the bird and the book disagree, always believe the bird’.
However, listening to Sue Armstrong talking recently, I noted her recommendation of a new resource in the area of remedy relationships, written by Abdur Rehman, described in the fly- leaf as ‘Professor, Homeopathic Medical Centre, Lahore, Pakistan. Having obtained a copy from Freeman’s I found it contains a stag- gering amount of information and hence is a book I would heartily recommend.
could separate the dogs. Felix was freaked out, his right leg was badly injured.
During the next weeks, his leg healed without any complications but his mind problems increased. He was very nervous and restless all the time, even at home; he was hypersen- sitive to all external impressions; all day long he itched nervously, swallowed air like a fish when he was excited and agitated frequently. Sometimes he got aggressive towards Mrs. X, no chance of playing with other dogs, he start- ed to bark continuously, even if he just saw another dog 30 meters away. “This dog has changed 180° since he was bitten by the other dog!“, said Mrs. X desperately.
Clinical examination
The wounds on the legs healed, no further symptoms found in this young and healthy dog. During the consultation, Felix was rest- less, unable to lie down, every little noise was recognized. If he got attention, he sat down and scratched for a few seconds, just to stand up in the next second and run around, agitated in between, as the owner told me.
Collection of the symptoms
Cause: dog bite
Skin: itching all over the body, agg. when excited Stomach: swollowing air agg. when excited Mind: increasingly aggressive towards the owner and other dogs, frightened of dogs
Boericke writes
Lyss.: Hypersensitivity of all senses, desire for swallowing, excitement aggravates
06.11.2012 First dose: Lyss 200C, single dose.
13.11.2012 first follow up: Felix behaviour was much better, no more air swallowing, no more scratching, no further aggression, but still tense, still nervous and scared. No med- ication.
27.11.2012 second follow up: no real change; Felix was still afraid of every noise, very tense, followed his owner everywhere; but all the other symptoms seemed to be cured.
Aconite 200C one dose.
12.12.2012 Mrs.X called very pleased. ‘Felix is nearly the same dog as he was before this horrible attack, he is relaxed, a life-loving young dog’.
Discussion
The cause made the choice of Lyss easy in combination with the nervous symptoms; the distinct itching and agitation was very promi- nent. In humans there are no typical skin symptoms described. This dog showed a com- plete picture of Lyss and Aconite was able to cure the fear in the end.
However, what about the skin symptoms? Is there another aspect of Lyssin in dogs?
It would be interesting to discuss this further and I’d like to collect information from any feedback you may have. You can contact me at: info@tierheilzentrum.at
Under Causticum we find:
Followed well by (among 34 others) Phos (when Causticum seems indicated but fails; cataract when Caust fails)
Inimical: PHOS (Must not be used before or after Caust)
Collaterals (i.e. similar remedies): Phos (Change of weather from humid to dry agg.)
Under Phosphorus we have:
Inimical: CAUST (after Phos)
Collaterals: Caust (Hoarseness; own voice seems to re-echo in head)
There is no mention of Causticum in ‘followed well’
So it seems, if Causticum doesn’t have any effect, it is safe to use Phosphorus but not vice versa. On the other hand, if either remedy has caused a change in the patient, then we should indeed be cautious.
info@tierheilzentrum.at
Reference
Rehman A. Encyclopaedia of Remedy Relationships, Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany
16