Page 15 - Summer 14

Imagine this: your last patient of the day on Saturday is a 12-13 year old neutered male outdoor cat, who can- not walk and will not eat. The cat was normal the evening prior, and this
morning he took a step and collapsed on his side. Normally he is happy to sit watching birds and also walks around with his mistress among the cattle, dogs, chickens, and other animals. He rarely goes out of sight of the home. During rain or snow he will stay underneath the porch outside. Stalking moles is one of his pastimes, sitting by a mole hole for hours. He will climb a tree about four feet and then get down. There are no known toxic chemicals or products on the property.
This cat, Jesse, is presented on March 29, 2014 with a head tremor and elevated nictitat- ing membranes. He cannot stand on his own. His color is good and he is well hydrated. His heart and lungs auscult normally but his breath- ing is harsh. His face and head are bilaterally symmetrical. He has no menace response. His palpebral reflexes are very delayed. He has some gingivitis, recession, and halitosis. He is negative for conscious proprioception and deep pain on all 4 limbs. His abdomen is soft and non-painful. The person had to place Jesse into the carrier for the trip to the office because Jesse could not walk. He refuses to eat canned food when offered (Recovery®). The last time he was known to eat was the prior morning. During the office visit, the head tremor worsens in intensity.
This looked to me like a central nervous sys- tem lesion and I explained the rule-outs to the person, including neoplasia, myelitis/encephali- tis, infectious disease, and so on. I offered MRI/CT and CSF tap with a referral neurologist. The person said she would prefer to let nature take its course. I asked permission to repertor- ize this case, because I felt that I could help Jesse. The person agreed.
Using Radar software, I got a list of potential remedies. I chose plumbum 200C. I gave one dose in the office. The cat began to change before our eyes. Jesse became less distant and more present. The nictitating membranes began to recede, and the cat looked brighter. He was able to crawl into his carrier for the trip home.
The person called to report that reported that “Jesse is doing remarkably well”. Within about 30-45 minutes after the dose, they got home from the office, the person “opened the cat car- rier and Jesse pretty much just walked right out of it. He did eat a little bit of tuna and I fed him some cat food, which he’s eating. He’s walking around pretty well. He’s still a little wobbly but not near like he was this morning. I will give another dose at 10PM.”
The report for Jesse the following morning, March 30, 2014 is this: “Jesse got up and ate breakfast. He walked around outside. He was running and playing with the dog and following the person around the property, like usual. He has no tremor and his eyes are fine.”
Caine the Big Black Dog – Mixed Lab, MN, born Jan 2004 by Lori D. Leonard
One day in April of 2014, Caine and his per- son came to see me at my veterinary clinic. He had the trifecta of symptoms that so many animals have on presentation: he was anorexic, depressed and lethargic. The majority of ‘sick’ animals have these three signs. There’s not much to go on, as these signs are non-specific. This dog was fine the day prior. Caine is raw fed. He vomited once on the morning of his visit and was restless and panting in the night. This dog had a temp of 103.4OF [39.7°C] and was otherwise normal on physical examination. His person reported that Caine had green- ish nasal discharge and sneezing, a condi- tion that we had worked with previously. I drew blood for chemistries and complete blood count. In addition, I checked his blood glucose and BUN paw-side. His glucose was 68mg/dL so I put some honey on his gums. The BUN was within the normal range, at 5-15mg/dL. The specific gravity of his urine was 1.019.
Caine had been a patient of mine for about 18 months at this point. He is a large dog weighing 100 pounds [45 kg], with medium-length black hair. To me, Caine was morose or sullen at this visit. He clearly was not interested in anything. He stayed down on the floor and did not walk around or wag his tail, as is his usual behavior. He barely lifted his head to acknowledge me.
Did I mention that there was not much to go on as far as a diagnosis? I repertor- ized the findings on Caine, and sep-puls- lyc-sulph-carc were the top 5 contenders. The rubrics were: nose-discharge-green- ish; mind-yielding disposition; mind-confi- dent; mind-fear-thunderstorm, of; stomach-vomiting; mind-eating- refuses to eat; generals-cold-bathing-desire for cold bathing; and mind-morose. Previously, Caine had responded well to phosphorus and nat-mur. Truthfully, I had not even con-
sidered sepia as a remedy for this dog, but the more I read about it in the materia med- ica, the more I decided that it was a good fit for this dog. So he got sepia 1M night- morning-night (3 doses in 24 hours), with the first dose given in the office. I sent him home with instructions to feed him lightly and let him get some sleep! Meanwhile I received the results of the blood-work and the only abnormality was a mildly elevated white count of 20,000/μL. Caine ate a bowl of chicken and drank water once he got home.
I heard nothing from the person, so six days later I sent a text to her asking for an update. She replied that Caine “is feeling tons better. Thank you so much! U r miracle worker.” It turns out that he rapidly recov- ered from his funk, less than 36 hours after getting his first dose of the remedy.
Sepia, ink of the cuttlefish, is often con- sidered a “female” remedy with its affinity for the female reproductive organs as well as the tired and worn-out, dragging feeling that it encompasses. In this case, it matched the imbalance in the patient nicely and the patient recovered.
I did not choose puls for Caine because, although he is a needy dog and dependent on his person for attention and fussing and he has had profuse bland dis- charges in the past, his abdomen was not distended or painful on exam. His symp- toms were not changing. Mentally, Caine does not have any of the “bully” or “cow- ard” attributes so often seen with lyc, and he was not flatulent. For me, sulph is too often one of our choices. This dog is not obese, hot, smelly, and so on. Carc fits this dog somewhat in that the dog is a care- taker of his person. Caine does not have any control issues, he’s afraid of thunder- storms (carc loves storms), and he is a more sedentary type than one who would love dancing or travelling.
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