IS HOMEOPATHY GOING TO THE DOGS (CATS, BIRDS, etc.)?

Chat began at 20:58 EST

Moderator: Welcome back, Dr. Christina Chambreau.

Dr. Chambreau: I’m so glad to be here. I have several websites for you - HealthyAnimals@aol.com, www.ChristinaChambreau.com, www.HealthyPetsBlog.com, www.HealthyPlanetBlog.com, www.HealthyPeopleBlog.com, www.HealthyAnimalsJournal.com, and I can be contacted at 410-771-4968. I graduated in 1980 from the Univ. of Georgia and knew nothing of the holistic approach. Clients got me started in homeopathy and by 1988 I was doing mostly homeopathy and started teaching it, which I really love doing.  If anyone wants to take classes or host me to teach in your area, please contact me. I have a phone consulting practice. Increasingly I will put more products and guidelines for the best products and books on my site, so do bookmark it.

 

SPREAD THE WORD - the AVH (Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy) Annual Conference is open to everyone, October 23-24-25, 2009 in Savannah, GA. If you are familiar with homeopathy, come to the conference. If you are new, Dr. Elliott and I teach a great one day Introduction to Veterinary Homeopathy the day before the conference (Oct. 22). Please get some more people educated like you are, or come yourself if you are new to homeopathy.

 

Also, to really learn more about homeopathy for animals, come to Bowie for the incredible classes sponsored by the Prince Georges Feral Friends organization.

 

The Prince Georges Feral Friends hosts two weeks of Healthy Animal classes in June in Bowie, MD - near Washington DC. I do a holistic day, an introduction to homeopathy day and a 5-day class that teaches people how to use the repertory and find the best remedy for their animals. This helps your animal become healthy faster because you can help your homeopath find the best remedy. While you page through the repertory and materia medicas, you may remember problems or characteristic symptoms you forgot to tell the practitioner, or realize that one sub-rubric is better than what the homeopath picked. Also you will be much more patient when you understand how animals respond to remedies and how easily they can be suppressed by drug and other treatments.

Day one of the 5 day class is Case Taking. Day 2 is using the repertory and finding animal symptoms and realizing which symptoms are not in the human repertory and learning tricks of the trade to be faster at animal repertorizing. Day 3 is case analysis to select the best remedy (hopefully the similimum), best potency and best method of administration. Day 4 is evaluation of response to any kind of treatment, including homeopathy. Day 5 I give you cases to find the remedy for so you get to review all the steps and sometimes we work on animals of class participants. Go to www.HomeopathicAnimalCare.org to register and to see the other classes. There will be a Reiki attunement class 3 on the evenings of the intermediate homeopathy class and I think EVERY person needs to learn Reiki so they can "take the bad out of" vaccines or drugs when they must be given.

 

Dr. Chambreau: As you think about the questions that were asked previously by people, you can go to my blog - www.healthypetsblog.com to post questions and answers to each other.

 

In answering these questions, I will say that I do not have remedies for “specific problems”. I believe in finding the closest remedy match for the total individual.

 

Is there a homeopathic remedy that would help a dog that suffers from “separation anxiety”? 

The rubrics that may apply for many of the aspects we see in different dogs for separation anxiety are found in the MIND section: forsaken, breaks things, company - desire for - aggravated when alone, delusion of being forsaken, destructiveness, fear of being alone, fear of…, obstinate, hysteria, sensitive.

T-Touch has a great “anxiety wrap” you can find on line - www.anxietywrap.com; www.ttouch.com

I would also suggest using flower essences, especially Spirit Essences, Green Hope Farm and Anaflora.

Homeopathic remedies that have helped with separation anxiety include Argentum nitricum, Pulsatilla, Belladonna, Arsenicum album, Calcarea carbonica, Lycopodium, Phosphorus among many others.

 

Addison's Disease?  There actually is a rubric for hypoadrenocorticism in the old repertories – URINARY ORGANS; Kidneys, Addison's disease - with 30-60 remedies. The one case I treated years ago responded first to Phosphorus, then to Calcarea carbonica. Because this is end-stage pathology, hopefully you can be treating your dog sooner so it never develops this disease. Work done early in life - tracking any of the early warning signs of disease and giving constitutional remedies, finding the best food, not vaccinating, not using toxins and not accepting "just getting old" as a diagnosis - will prevent most of these autoimmune type diseases.

 

Devorah: For an older dog with severe arthritis in all his joints, what are the keynotes I should look for?

 

Dr. Chambreau: Welcome Devorah. Mostly the heat and cold modalities and the times of day and motion (better or worse from walking). Also, use physical symptoms - swelling, heat pain, specific pains.

 

Dr. Chambreau: Here is more on joint pain:

 

Bill: Doc, I have a ten year old British yellow lab that gets gimpy with strenuous activity. It appears to be his right front shoulder per the vet. He does walk with a slightly altered gait. He is worse with cold weather, worse in the a.m., or long periods or short periods of higher activity. Likes warmth, pressure and massage. Any suggestions?

 

Dr. Chambreau: Rubrics to use would be:

Extremities - Pain right shoulder - worse from motion, worse from cold, worse in AM.

If the pain is better from warmth and massage, then you could use warm applications amel pain shoulder. If she just likes the heat, then use generalities - warmth - desire for, and - amel by.

 

You will need past history, other successful remedies given, other illnesses, any of the early warning signs I list below in order to have your 3-legged stool to find a good remedy.

Definitely continue the warmth and the massaging. See a chiropractor regularly as the whole body can be off balance and suffer. An X-ray could help if your first 3 remedies do not help, as it may show if there are osteophytes (bone pieces), or damaged cartilage, etc. that could point to a different remedy.

Supplements for joints would be good - Glycoflex from VetriScience is great - get at www.ChristinaChambreau.com/products.php. Have on a great diet as well.

 

Dr. Chambreau: Here are a few of the early warning signs of illness - to see them all, go to my web site, or www.theAVH.org, or www.vetadviceline.com.

 

Signs of Underlying Chronic Disease (Latent Psora)

 

          Health is a glowing hair coat, bright eyes and high energy. It is an absence of illness, or dependency on medications, or avoidance of “allergens”.  Offspring of a healthy animal will be even healthier, and not have as many “breed” problems.  Healthy animals live longer than we have come to expect.

          There are many symptoms our animals have that we consider normal that really represent an underlying energy imbalance, made worse from poor diet and vaccination. As we cure animals of “disease”, we find that these “normal” things go away, too. Do not be satisfied with the health of your animals until most of the following symptoms are gone. Treat young animals when you see these.

 

BEHAVIOR: Fear of loud noises, thunder, wind; barks too much and too long; suspicious nature; timidity; licking things, people; irritability; indolence; eating dog stool (possibly cat stool) – it seems to be normal to eat horse, cow and rabbit manure; feet sensitive to handling; aggressiveness at play; destructiveness, biting when petted too long (cats, especially on rump); hysteria when restrained; irritability; indolence; not covering stool and not using litter box (cats); clumsy;

 

STOMACH: Mucous on stools, even occasional; tendency to diarrhea with least change of diet; constipation or hard stools; obesity or thinness; bad breath; poor appetite; excessive appetite; finicky appetite; sensitivity to milk. Meat, or any specific food; craving weird things, especially non-food items like paper and plastic; constipation; hard, dry stools; loss of teeth; bad breath; pale gums; red gums; *a red line where the teeth go into the gum, above one or more teeth; vomiting often; tarter accumulation. For Cats: thirst – a super healthy cat on good food will drink at most once a week and many will never drink as they absorb enough from their diet unless on dry food; vomiting hairballs  (or the hairball gagging type of vomit even if hairballs do not come up) more than 1-2x/year.

 

STIFFNESS when getting up, early hip dysplasia. Cats who can no longer jump up on furniture. Loss in the bounce in their step for dogs and cats.

 

SKIN: doggy smell, attracts fleas a lot, dry coat, oily coat, dry, dull lack luster coat, excessive shedding, chronic ear problems – wax, eye discharge, tearing, or matter in corner of eyes. “Freckles” on the face (cats); fragile claws; loss of whiskers (cats); attracts fleas a lot; excessive hair loss; waxy ears, frequent recurrence of mites; not grooming well.

 

TEMPERATURE: sensitive to heat or cold. Low grade fevers – Normal is 100-101.5

 

Other species: How would they be in the wild? Is this really health? Learn the normals and be open for improved health.

Rosawoodsii: I have a Saanen doe that is due to kid in 4 weeks. I noticed yesterday that the hair is thinning around her eyes, making it look pink. Her hair is a bit coarse, as well. She's getting very good nutrition, and is on an herbal wormer without wormwood. Her gums are very pale. Do you have any suggestions?

 

Dr. Chambreau: I would definitely have her stool checked. I do not know a lot about goats, so would need to repertorize her. Anemia. Gums pale. Hair falling out. Hair dry - would be good rubrics.

 

rosawoodsii: Could the anemia be caused by lice?  They're pretty hard to see on a white goat.

 

Dr. Chambreau: I think it would take a lot of lice to cause that much anemia. The way to find them might be to put down a black cloth and brush her well.

 

DancesWithHorses: How would you treat a horse with an utter panic in a rainstorm (metal roof = exceptionally loud). I've been trying Aconite 30 - 200 - 1M. I don't know if it's working. Can you advise on ensuring no proving of the aconite and also how to treat this constitutionally?

 

Dr. Chambreau: Provings are rare, but Aconite is one of those remedies that if it is not helping after several doses of high potency - wrong remedy. Also this is an acute, so should not need a lot of repetition - just the right remedy. If you have to ask if it is working - probably it is not. Mind - fear - noises. Mind - sensitive - noises.

 

I have only seen one proving in my 25 year practice. A dog had liver failure and owners nursed back to health (they were all MDs so I did not suggest alternative as I was very new). Then the dog became lame again (the steroids for the lameness caused the liver failure). Now they were ready for homeopathy. Rhus tox helped a lot and I said 2 more weeks and stop. She called 6 months later, in the dead of winter - wondering why there was a poison ivy like rash on the belly. Still not lame. That is my only proving.

DancesWithHorses: Actually, I don't know if it's working because I'm not there after administering the remedy. (I only resort to the remedy after hours at the stable; else, I'm there to horse-sit her.)

 

Dr. Chambreau: Not sure I would use Fear - storms as it may be the noise, not the storm. If a remedy works, you do not need to give it during the storm - that would be palliation.

 

DancesWithHorses: I was wondering about fear-noise vs. fear-thunderstorm, too.  If I put her outside during the rain, she's okay.  Can you advise on constitutional treatment? Also, if I'm with her, she's 100% okay. The farther away I get, the more upset she gets. So, "doesn't want to be alone" (of course, that also goes with herd animals in general).

 

Dr. Chambreau: Finding a constitutional remedy may take an hour of talking, so I cannot advise that on this chat room. You have a lot of good symptoms to work with there.  Definitely include “Desire for company” and “Ameliorated by company” as this is a strong symptom in her. Maybe “Fear ameliorated by company.” An animal intuitive or psychic may help discover what the fear is from.

 

DancesWithHorses: Thank you. I did suspect that it wasn't a quick question. I am relatively new to homeopathy, certainly no professional, but a devoted student. I have not yet tried potencies of Aconite above 1M. Would 10M or 50M be courting trouble? This horse will run for hours. I am also spending many hours working with her to address this from a psychological/confidence perspective.

 

Dr. Chambreau: 10M or 50 M would not be courting trouble. I just do not think Aconite is right as it has not helped long term. Good for you for the hours spent on building her confidence.

 

Devorah: Do you find that most of your rubrics come from the animals themselves or their human friends? Or is it a real mix of both?

 

Dr. Chambreau: Not sure what you mean. The symptoms I use all are told to me by the humans as I do mostly phone consulting and even in person, I ask for lots of information about things I cannot see, so still coming mostly from the person. Was that the question? It is like treating infants - the parent has the info.

 

Devorah: Yep!

 

AmyLansky: Hi, Dr. Chambreau. I recently started trying to feed my dog raw "meaty bones" (e.g., chicken backs and necks) as my new homeopathic vet recommends.  However, she seems to be taking them off and burying them instead of eating them.  Is there any way to get her to eat them instead? Also, she recommends against the Pitcairn meat & rice-based diet (which we have been doing for about 3 years) and moving to a more meat & raw veggie diet complemented by the meaty bones. What is your opinion on that?  My dog is a 13 year old border collie. Thanks!

 

Dr. Chambreau: Amy, I agree with no grains, or little grains. Check out the early warning signs and if there are more of those signs on grains - then feed no grains. Every dog is different, so some do great on Dr. Pitcairn's higher grain diets, others eat up the backs and do not bury them, others need more meat on the bone, or even no bones. Keep a journal (mine is easy to use and soon in an ebook) to track the early warning signs on each diet change to see what is best.  Maybe too much bone. Try a whole leg. 13 is good - go for 18!

 

Csanchez: I have a Standard Poodle that recently jammed his right front toe, started to bleed. I cleaned the area and used Calendula to stop the bleeding and then gave Arnica (3 doses every 20 min, did not work) and then gave Ledum, (3 doses every 20 min) and did not seem to work. It has been 5 days and the dog has a small limp when excited, and then started to bleed again. I am thinking that the nail and toe need to be looked at? Any suggestions?

 

Dr. Chambreau: Good for you to try one remedy at a time and evaluate the results.  I would have tried Hypericum as the first choice. You may still want to try that. Sit down in a good light, with a flashlight, and see what you can see. If there is a torn nail, or a puncture, or the toe seems to be off at an odd angle - go to the clinic for a check up. If the small limp is not getting worse, you have time to try remedies and may need to repeat the Ledum, or try the Hypericum. The deeper, constitutional, remedy may also be needed to finish the healing.

Alicia: My 16 year old kitty, Talisan, has just been diagnosed with a tumor. She had been losing weight and seemed very tired all the time so I was not completely surprised with the diagnosis. I am not expecting to cure her of cancer and I don't want to keep her alive if she is in any distress whatsoever. I would like to be able to prolong her time here and make sure she doesn't suffer. Any remedy ideas would be appreciated. As far as her personality goes she is extremely attached to me. About 10 years ago I was in a severe accident and almost died. I was in the hospital for almost two weeks and ever since then she will cry and cry if I come home after work and then have to leave again. She doesn't seem to mind my leaving for work in the morning but she sure hates it if I leave after coming home from work. Thank you for your thoughts. 

 

Dr. Chambreau: www.Brighthaven.org is a wonderful cat sanctuary that adopts cats 16 and older who have been dumped, switches them to a raw meat diet, no vaccines, uses homeopathy, love and flower essences. They have had some of these old cats live to 27 to 30! So you can cure cancer and tumors - sometimes.

A common question we all have is when to euthanize one of our companions. My experience is that animals treated homeopathically are able to die on their own, if we are willing to treat all their symptoms from the perspective of "I will support you to be cured and live longer, and I will keep you comfortable if it is your time to pass." Walnut (Bach Flower Essence) is good to help in the transition - for both of you. For everyone, when symptoms change (like her clinginess after your hospitalization), that is the time to get very aggressive with treatment - homeopathy, flower essences, intuitives/psychics.

 

Since she seems to have some rigidity (ok for you to leave in AM, but not a second time), I would look at the “Aversion to change” remedies. I would suggest working with a homeopath, probably by phone, who is successfully treating cancer (Dr. Loops in NC - 919-542-0442, Dr. Levy in MA 413-268-3000 and many others listed at www.theAVH.org - Bernstein, Elliott, Sagrera, Herman, Feinman, Yasson, Bochenski, Harrison, Ullman, Obando, Yearout, and more)  - contact those you are drawn to and ask what they think. Then decide who is the best fit for you and Talisan.

Some veterinary homeopaths are successfully curing cancer with classical prescribing, some are using Ramakrishnan methods (A Homoeopathic Approach to Cancer, Ramakrishnan and Coulter) and other approaches.

Be sure she is eating a zero grain diet, preferably raw meaty bones and pureed vegetables with supplements.

 

Amanda: Dr. Chambreau, I would love to hear your thoughts on homeopathic remedies that you have found useful in managing symptoms related to chronic kidney failure in cats. It goes against the tenets of classical homeopathy, but I'm hoping you know some remedies that tend to show up more frequently than others.  We're working with that in our home right now, and I don't have enough experience or resources available yet to repertorize her case appropriately. Having a few jumping-off points would be great. Thank you for your time!

 

Dr. Chambreau: One of the biggest helps with renal disease is to feed a raw meat diet and to give fluids under the skin (sub-Q). Be sure you warm the fluids first by running the IV line through a container of hot water and draining the line till the fluid is warm.

Rubrics: There are no good rubrics for the type of chronic renal disease we see in cats, so you need to use the individual symptoms, especially the ones she was showing just before she began to drink more water and urinate more. I have had so many remedies help cats that it is really hard to suggest any one of them. One 16 year old cat I treated early in my career was vomiting, weight loss, poor appetite, dull coat AND was very fearful (had to be anesthetized to draw the blood so we never did that again), very fastidious since becoming ill and was worse after midnight. So what remedy did I give? [keep reading to see the answer given later in the chat]. Write down what remedy you think fits.

 

Rosawoodsii: What kind of rubrics would I look for to find the constitutional remedy for a horse with recurring bouts of laminitis? Should I take into consideration her cresty neck, past problems (usually an easy keeper but when very fit hard to keep weight on; had problem with fungus at age 6; seedy toe; previous problem with scurf on back of pasterns), as well as her personality?

 

Dr. Chambreau: Yes - all of those are some of the early warning signs of illness in horses as well as prior problems and her personality. Yes, use those that are most characteristic of her. For help with horses, I suggest joining Dr. Ward's site - www.HolisticHorseKeeping.com.

 

Cookamc: Dr. Chambreau, I am working with a dog suffering from suspected skin allergies for over a year. He alternates between chewing his haunches until he is bald and chewing his feet; when one clears, the other returns. He subsequently developed a yeast infection over most of his coat. With probiotics, bathing with selsun blue, and vinegar baths, he's made a little headway, but is far from cured. He was very melancholy and chewed worse when his owner was separated. The only major emotional event that could be related is his owner's deployment to Iraq twice. His problems didn't occur until after he had returned, though. The probiotics seem to have helped his mood, but I've had difficulty repertorizing his symptoms. I'll happily welcome any thoughts.

Over the year, we've tried several remedies. We started with Sulphur which helped with the feet but not the back. We then tried Arsenicum and Phosphorus. Mixed results on the Phosphorus. It feels like we get on the right path but then he goes back.

 

Dr. Chambreau: I am going to post a similar, though worse case which was emailed. See LeRoy. My comments (** are mine) may give you some insights. Diet - raw meaty bone and one protein at a time. Look up “Anxiety wrap” from www.TTouch.com. Flower essences. And find the simillimum. Continue the probiotics. Arsenicum and Phosphorus are very similar, but Sulphur is quite different. Remember to look for remedies for the characteristic symptoms (melancholy, alternation of place) and look for more characteristic modalities - heat, cold, bathing, foods, time of day, inside/outside, etc.

 

LeRoy -- Subject: St. Bernard female

 

Purebred St. Bernard, female, born August 2005. Only one vaccine, rabies in June 06 (used homeopathy to remove it).

** You can't remove rabies with homeopathy unless there are specific symptoms shown and you find the simillimum. Not Thuja, not Lyssin, not Sulphur, not Hypericum, not Ledum – none will "fix it" unless they are the simillimum - big misconception. Every one needs to be trained in Reiki, which will generically "take the bad out" - Reiki the syringe or vial, then the injection site, then the person or animal for as long as it takes. If symptoms then appear, find the similimum for those symptoms and any prior problems as well. Good that you only did Rabies.

Everyone: order my vaccine handout or read the abbreviated one on my site or at www.vetadviceline.com - library.

 

She hasn't been spayed, weight 125 lbs. She was taken from her mother when she was 4 weeks old. Tried some colostrum when we first got her but it gave her major diarrhea.

**Rubric - depending on the colostrum you mean - Rectum - diarrhea - after slightest dietary indiscretion; or Generalities - food - dairy - agg.

Itching, hive-like rash over entire body, concentrated mostly on rump just above tail, neck, inside elbows and paws. Started Autumn 2006, used olive oil, went away.

**Hint one - Hahnemann says that stopping eruptions with topicals, even gentle ones like olive oil, can be suppressive. I would have given remedies at the time. I would be very suspicious of a deep psoric problem because mere olive oil had such a severe rash clear up. Oh - I bet you gave the olive oil as a supplement, not topically. Point needed to be made anyway.

Spring/winter 2007, itching returned, used topical sprays, shampoos and changed diet to raw diet. 

**Did you try the olive oil again?

She is picky with food and refused to eat. Would pick out her choice from raw food.  Wouldn't eat food if supplements were in them.

**This is one of those early warning signs of illness. Healthy animals will eat anything. Again, a good "constitutional" remedy is needed now that will fit all of her symptoms. Also, you need to be very persistent with the raw food diet. Or at least fresh food cooked diet.

 

Autumn 2007, rash turned into black, scaly sores, lost all of her hair, what was left was brittle and thin. 

**This is a perfect example of the progression of disease. It starts with an energetic imbalance (you just "know" something is wrong, but there are NO symptoms). Next is functional - itching but not much else. Next is inflammation - red, hot, painful, loss of function, eruptions. Finally we get tissue changes - skin changes, and hair change.

 

She was just getting more ill month by month. She nests during her cycle time, like a false pregnancy. 

**I do not know if this is abnormal or not – some bitches who are spayed at or near their cycle tend to maintain “high hormone levels” and the nesting is another part of the total symptom-picture.

 

Itching seems to return about 2 x's yearly, 5 mos. apart.

**If that is accurate (and keeping a journal would really, really be critical for you and this dog) then you can use Generalities - Periodicity.

 

Used Urtica Urens, made remedy from her skin, Dust and Mold Antigen, Vitex

for hormonal issues, Belladonna, Sulphur, Silver Shield, mixed Aromatherapy oils for bathing, bee pollen, Vitamin E, C, D plus calcium, cod liver oil, Scratch Free Remedy, colon cleanses, zinc, calendula, Yellow Dock, drinks reverse osmosis water, ring worm oil, homeopathic sprays, Pulsatilla and Rhus Tox. 

**Seems that you are treating just the symptoms, and not looking for the simillimum. I would stop all remedies for a few weeks and seek help from someone more trained and maybe take some more classes.

 

You have picked one remedy (Belladonna) that is thirsty and one that is thirstless (Pulsatilla), so they are not complete matches and this indicates you are not looking at the whole dog.

 

Are we working with an allergic response? 

** Probably not. This is the psoric miasm and needs careful, progressive homeopathic care or you will suppress.

Itching?  How should we be treating this? 

**By carefully recording every symptom and every homeopathic remedy given. Then finding the deepest possible remedy that matches most of the symptoms (and you may need someone trained more than you), giving one remedy at a time a very carefully evaluating the response.  In homeopathy we do not treat "itching", per se, rather we find the remedy that rebalances the vital force so the dog no longer needs to produce the itching symptom.