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quiet, yet if paper rustles, or one of the dogs moves, he is off like a shot. He accepted a new female adult cat the family adopted a month later as top cat and never challenges her; the two will sit together and groom each other. When he wants something, he will sit next to Lynne and he may give a little ‘wrow’, but he does not take food or become demanding. If he does something unacceptable, like jump on the cooktop, Lynne only has to say firmly ‘No, Reggie’ and he jumps down and never does it again. He comes to the owner when she is sad or ill. When the owner’s sister was recuperating from cancer, Reggie stayed beside her constant- ly; once she was well he avoided her as he does other visitors to the home. Lynne describes him as a ‘kind, gentle little soul’.
Reggie has bouts of paroxysmal sneezing with no obvious discharge or congestion. Reggie has excessive muscle tension - his body curls up in a ball when he is tense and his tail winds up like a spring. He over- grooms his hocks and carpi, and is generally very clean. He prefers to be in warm places, hiding under the covers and seeking out patches of sun in the house. The specific gravity of Reggie’s first morning urine is con- sistently decreased, so it is likely that he has decreased renal function, which makes conventional anti-thyroid medications or I-131 treatment unattractive options.
For Reggie’s constitutional prescription I chose the rubrics:
• Mind, Ailments from – fright
• Mind, Mildness
• Mind, Reserved
• Mind, Sensitive – reprimands, to
• Mind, Sympathetic
• Mind, Sneezing – paroxysmal
• Urine, Specific gravity – decreased
• Chest, Murmurs – cardiac murmurs
• Generals, Hyperthyroidism
The top twelve remedies in the Radar Seven analysis using Synthesis repertory were:
Natrum mur, Pulsatilla, Phosphorus, Nux vomica, Lachesis, Calcarea carb, Arsenicum alb, Belladonna, Ignatia, Sepia, Nitric acid, Carcinosin
I chose Nat-mur as the remedy that best fit the totality of Reggie’s symptoms. Within one month of beginning dosing with Nat-mur LM 1, Reggie was more sociable, and was now bold enough to approach the ‘scary’ corgi. His attitude continued to improve; he played with the other cat in the household and no longer startled at sounds or when the dogs approached. The dose was titrated by Reggie’s behaviour. Initially given once daily, the remedy was discontinued when he started hiding more. His behaviour became more sociable again, then, a few weeks later he became more timid. The remedy was given again at this point, and a dose was given as needed when Reggie became timid, every two to three weeks. Reggie was clinically normal from Dec ’06 through April ’08, including radiographs and blood pressure measurements. His thyroid hormone levels never became normal, and his first morning urine specific gravity remained consistently below 1.035, the level necessary to docu- ment adequate renal tubular function.
The significance of this was discussed with the owner, who decided that she was not interested in pursuing conventional treatment to lower
the thyroid hormone levels. She was delighted with Reggie’s new confi- dence and his increased ability to enjoy his life. In cases like this, it appears likely that the thyroid hormone elevation was necessary for Reggie to maintain adequate renal function.
A drop of Nat-mur LM 1 was given as needed through November ’09, whenever anxious hiding behaviour recurred. Reggie received ancillary treatment as necessary for other issues. Reggie did well until November ’09, when euthanasia was elected at almost 17 years of age. Lynne said that she was actually glad that Reggie developed hyperthyroidism, because the seriousness of the physical condition prompted us to con- stitutionally prescribe for Reggie. The complete resolution of his anxiety ‘allowed him to become the cat he was meant to be’.
My last anxious, yet mild mannered, case is Carla, who I first saw as an eighteen month old German Shepherd (Alsatian) in October ’03. Carla’s presenting complaint was loose stools and explosive diarrhea. Another vet treated this with metronidazole and a prednisone injection. The stools were better for two weeks, then the diarrhea recurred. There was no response to a repeated treatment with metronidazole and pred- nisolone,andherowner,Anne,wasnothappywithgivingthesemedications anyway.
Carla was obtained at 12 weeks of age from a friend’s bitch. Carla’s mum was also nervous, but never aggressive. Carla’s early socialization was not very good; she was extremely timid when obtained and would scream and cringe when big dogs and strangers approached, fortunately, this had improved although she still tries to avoid strangers. Carla had loose stools while eating Pedigree at the breeder’s and also after switching to a better kibble, California Natural. She was never an eager eater. The stools became diarrheic after a traumatic incident of overnight boarding in July (3 months ago); she ‘freaked out’ when the owner left and spent the entire time trying to climb the fence.
Carla was a tall, lean Shepherd, with huge erect ears (like twin satel- lite dishes) and an anxious expression. In the consulting room she paced almost constantly. This was so distressing to see that when Anne related that the diarrhea and anxiety worsened dramatically after the fearful boarding episode, I gave Carla a dose of Aconite 30 C. Within minutes she laid down near the door, and for the rest of the time she laid near the door or sat by the owner.
Anne describes Carla as sweet, gentle (she plays very nicely with her cats), good-hearted, responsive and intelligent. When Anne reprimands Carla, she acts playful, when Anne’s partner, Tom, reprimands Carla, she acts fearful. She wants to go for walks, but acts tense, looking all around as if afraid; new areas and new situations make her particularly tense. Carla always wants to
be with Anne and is
more brave, if Anne
encourages her, she is
also more brave at
home. The diarrhea is
variable (cow pie to liq-
uid) with large quantities
of mucus. Carla often
strains to pass it, and it
may be explosive. She
vomits bile occasionally
in the morning. Carla
flinched away from me
and cowered but she
never growled or active-
ly resisted examination.
The only physical abnor-
mality was a mild con-
junctivitis with greenish
discharge; her abdomen
was soft.
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