Homeopathy Papers

Tidbits 82: Toni Won’t Eat!

Written by Elaine Lewis

So many lessons to be learned from this one little case—about case management, dog care, veterinary practice and the transformation of Toni.

Carly came to me to tell her story about how she was cured of an ear infection with the covid-19 nosode: Novus-CV 200C, which you can find at HomeopathyPlus.com.  But before we knew it, the conversation turned to her dog who had stopped eating.  I said, “Fill out the questionnaire.”

Questionnaire

Name: Toni

 

Age: 2

Male or Female: Female Chihuahua

Weight: 7.4 pounds

Height:

Date: 7/27/2021

Email Address: ****@aol.com

 

  1. Describe the complaint

My dog didn’t want to eat today.  This has happened once before about 6-8 weeks ago and it quickly resolved with one 30x dose of Arsenicum.  She was back to normal very quickly.  I then brought her to the vet…

What?  You brought her to the vet after homeopathy had cured her???  Oh geez.  This is just asking for trouble.  The stress alone could have caused her to relapse.  I saw this with a child who had ITP.  The remedy had cured him but the parents needed to see “proof” by taking him to the hospital for a blood test.  I said, “No, no, it’s not necessary, you’ll just traumatize him!”  But they did it anyway.  The test showed he was cured, but the child relapsed because of the fright!  So we were right back at the beginning again!

I now wish I hadn’t because she was doing great; but the vet was a homeopath so I felt safe.

Yes, you would think so.  But vets don’t own their own practices for the most part; corporations own them.  And there are protocols.  And they’re all allopathic!

The vet ran bloodwork and Toni was diagnosed with Lyme disease.

Oh geez, with absolutely no symptoms?

I’ve been on this merry-go-round with my kids too and I want to get off!  I’m tired of chasing micro-organisms.

Toni did have a number of tick bites this year.  Against my better judgement I agreed to a 30-day course of antibiotics.

OMG!  This is how it all starts, with a pointless trip to the vet!

She seemed to tolerate this well and the treatment ended about six weeks ago.  She seemed fine until today and because she had the same symptoms all over again, I gave her another dose of Arsenicum 30x but she’s not bouncing back like before.

Maybe the potency is wrong.  You know, a 30X is not exactly a high potency, or even just barely a medium potency.

  1. Etiology–

The Lyme/tick bite issue, I assume.  There might be some jealousy issues because we brought home a new puppy four weeks ago.  The puppy was found to have a parasite, so, Toni also had to take an anti-parasitic medication about 2-3 weeks ago because the puppy had a parasite so all the dogs in the house had to take it.

What????  Oh for heaven’s sake!  No symptoms, but two drugs now from that one needless visit to the vet—a “homeopath” at that!

Toni may also be sensing upcoming changes in the house.  My adult daughter is moving out and taking her two dogs with her.  Toni is very bonded with both of them.

  1. Sensation–

N/A

  1. Appearance–

She looks a little droopy.  Right now she is curled up in her crate and looking at me with one eye open.  I don’t think she wants company.

I know this might appear to be a “good” symptom to a homeopath, but, this is how all dogs are when they’re sick, they do not want company!

  1. Location–where on the body is your complaint located?

N/A

  1. Modalities–

This has gotten worse as the day has progressed.  After the first dose of Arsenicum around 1 pm she ate a little but that improvement has not held.

What???  I thought you said Arsenicum didn’t work!  Oh for heaven’s sake.  Carly, getting the appetite back is what we look for after a remedy, it’s what we want to see!  And that was the chief complaint, right?  Won’t eat?  You’re just disappointed because the first time she had this complaint, you gave Ars. 30X and she bounced right back, and because she didn’t do that this time, you assumed you had the wrong remedy and gave up.  But, there’s a big difference between “remedy didn’t work” and “remedy did work but just not as I would have liked”.

You know, all that can simply mean is that the potency wasn’t high enough!  She might be sicker this time than the last time.  She’s taken drugs since the last time—stupid drugs that she didn’t need!  So, it’s not exactly the same case.

The fact that the improvement didn’t “hold”?  Means nothing!  The improvement “holding” is a function of the potency being correct and the repetitions being correct!  Sometimes we give an inadequate potency and not surprisingly, the remedy wears off.  Sometimes, all you have to do is repeat the remedy!  There’s no law that says a remedy has to “hold”, or it has to hold for X number of hours or X number of days!  Remedies frequently do not “hold”, and it doesn’t matter, just repeat it!  And P.S., the 30X potency isn’t very strong!  I once took a 30X for an Arsenicum flu and it did nothing!!!!  But it was the only potency I had!  I had clear Arsenicum symptoms!  You were lucky to have gotten a response at all with such a low potency.

However, you can “plus” your 30X bottle to a 33X and give it again, and maybe you’ll get a clearer response this time.  If you do, all you have to do then is repeat the remedy at the first sign of relapse; succuss your bottle 5 times and give another dose.  Even if you have to give the remedy often (not saying you will), that does not matter!  What matters is, does it work again when you do give it?  If so, then you’re alright!

For “plussing” instructions, see my FAQ article:

Homeopathy: Frequently Asked Questions

 

It’s now 6 pm as I’m writing.

  1. Concomitants

I don’t notice any other symptoms except for what appeared like rapid breathing very briefly.  If this had continued I would have brought her to the vet.

  1. Discharges–

No discharges that I can see.

  1. Generals–

Wants to be left alone.

Again, this means nothing.  This is how dogs are when they’re sick.

  1. The mentals:

She’s very placid right now.  Normally she’s very barky.  She is top dog in our house and keeps the other dogs in line.  The dog across the street greatly aggravates her in general.  My husband and I joke that this bigger aggressive female dog is “her nemesis”.  Also, she’s aggravated by anyone walking on the street, delivery people, strangers, at the moment food, which she doesn’t like.  In general what ameliorates is attention.  Being picked up.  Being held.  Being carried up to bed because she doesn’t like to sleep in a crate.

No one does.

When she thinks I’m going upstairs to bed without her, she gets upset.  I think she might be jealous of my new puppy because she growls at him, but she also plays with him.

  1. What have you been saying?

Today she’s not trying to keep the other dogs in line.  She’s just sitting back and letting them do what they want.

  1. What are you doing?

Just in her crate and not wanting company.

  1. Describe your thirst and appetite–

No thirst, no appetite.

  1. Fever?

I don’t think she’s feverish.

  1. Sweating?

N/A

  1. Odors?

No.

  1. What is most striking, peculiar or identifying about your condition?

Not eating, not wanting to do anything else.

  1. Is there a diagnosis?

Positive on the Lyme panel.

  1. Describe your energy–

Dull, prostrated.

  1. What does your tongue look like?

Normal

  1. If you have a cough…

No cough.

  1. If you haven’t already said if you’re hotter or colder than usual…

She feels no warmer than usual.

  1. This question only applies to complaints of a more chronic nature: I need to know what you eat, drink and “take”.

She had her usual high-quality all natural kibble today.

“High-Quality Kibble” is an oxymoron.

She also had some chicken and rice.

Dogs can’t digest grains.  Please read my pet-care articles, click below:

Dogs and Cats

Within the past four weeks she finished a 30-day course of antibiotics, quickly followed by a course of anti-parasite drugs, followed by her monthly heartworm meds.

Heartworm meds?  Did you say heartworm meds????  OMG!  This dog is being poisoned!  Please read my articles on pet care which I linked to above.

  1. Tell me what drugs you’re taking, prescription or over-the-counter.

I was giving her an immune boosting supplement with cranberry and other herbs.  I will discontinue this.

***

Follow-ups: They start at July 27th and end on August 6th, whereupon Carly wanted me to start her husband’s case; so, roughly 9 days of results, see below:

If you want to pick this up in the morning that’s okay too. I know it’s late.  Just let me know.

I hope you saw my email where I said to plus the Arsenicum 30X to Ars. 33X and give her another dose.

OK, I’ll do that right away.

***

Elaine, after the 33X, she has come back to life!

Really?  What is she doing?  How long did it take?  I’ll check back in with you later.  Remember, a relapse means succuss the bottle 5 times and repeat the remedy.  I also think she might be hungry and thirsty now.

I won’t try food because I’m trying to settle her for sleep.

Carly, she’s been starving herself, if she’s hungry, let her have something.

She went to sleep right after we spoke and then woke up as usual when I was about to go to bed. This is typical for her.  She usually falls asleep around 9 and will wake up when I make moves to get ready for bed.  That’s when she starts to cry loudly because she’s afraid I won’t take her with me.  Sometimes I don’t go upstairs immediately so she follows me around the house crying.

Last night I carried her and one of my daughter’s dogs to bed and thought we would go to sleep.  But Toni wasn’t ready to settle down.  If I don’t watch her she will jump off my bed so she can explore the room.  She was feeling well enough to go exploring.  So, she seemed much better.

You’re right. It is time to feed her.

Thanks so much.

 

Hi Elaine,

She ate some chicken and rice—more delicately than usual.  I plan to feed her small meals throughout the day.

She’s definitely doing better and I’ll watch for signs that she needs another dose.

Carly

 

She was playing with the puppy today a little bit and making her usual loud play noises.  I don’t see the need to give her another dose at the moment but I’m watching her closely.

Carly

 

Toni’s appetite is still a little bit off but improving.  She looks a lot better and she’s back to barking at anything that moves outside.  I’m not really worried about her now.  My dog is doing great.

Thanks so much,

Carly

 

Elaine, FYI she’s been playing a lot more with the puppy today.  Now she seems to like him.  Her appetite is back to normal.  My husband just remarked that Toni didn’t react to the dog barking across the street.  She got up, looked around and then settled back in the chair.

I have noticed that her crying when she wants attention is a lot less now.  She’s more patient and less whiny.

I’m closely watching her whining.  She whines at the top of her lungs if we don’t meet her needs immediately and I’ve noticed a lot more patience lately.  Much less intense whining.

 

Hi Elaine,

She didn’t growl at the puppy when he got on my lap tonight!  She’s doing okay.  I will watch closely, though, to see if she needs a remedy.

Carly

 

Toni’s ear-splitting whining seems to be lessening.

This was a behavior that has been building over the last few months.  If she didn’t immediately get her needs met she’d whine.  It was at its worst at night, when I started to make moves to go upstairs to bed.  She’d follow me around and whine.  She would whine until I picked her up and carried her to bed.

Last night she fell asleep on our ottoman along with two of the other dogs.  She watched me walk upstairs and didn’t whine!

The last few nights there was only a little cry to bring her up to bed, instead of an ear-splitting whine.

Less whining is a good thing because it was really loud.

Carly

_______________________________

 

Discussion

What a transformation!  Wow!  This dog has been totally transformed!  Sometimes we get lucky; we give someone an acute remedy and their whole personality changes!  What has happened?  We’ve stumbled onto their constitutional remedy!

How do we know that this dog is Arsenicum?  What’s the biggest reason?  We can speculate about the other things, but, the one thing that we do know for sure is that this dog has a terrible fear of being left alone at night!  Even though Carly always takes Toni to bed with her, the dog is never reassured by that, she is always afraid she will be left behind, that Carly will forget her!  The one thing you should know about Arsenicum is that they are not easily reassured!  Notice the dog screams at the top of her lungs—desperately!

“Don’t forget to take me to bed with you!!!!!  You’re not going to forget are you???  Remember, I’m still here!  Me.  Toni.  Still here!!!”

 She doesn’t believe she will be taken upstairs if she doesn’t scream persistently!  This desperation, this begging and pleading, is what characterizes Arsenicum.  Desperation is an Arsenicum word.  Now, after Arsenicum, Toni watches Carly getting ready to go upstairs and she’s, like, “Whatever…”

What else have we learned from this case?  Having a “holistic” vet may not help you!  They have “protocols”.  They don’t own their practices.  They have to vaccinate.  They have to give drugs.  This dog was getting needless drugs and food that doesn’t sustain life!  If you read my pet care articles linked to above, you will learn what to feed your dogs and cats.

Regarding dosing, I’m surprised to be reminded again and again that if a remedy wears off, people just give up!  They think they have the wrong remedy and start looking for something else!  “I gave _______ but it didn’t hold.”  For heaven’s sake, just repeat the remedy!  It doesn’t have to “hold”!  There are no rules about “holding”!  And by the way, your remedies are going to work a lot better if you make a water potency out of them and succuss the bottle five times before each dose.  See my FAQ article for more information on that:

Homeopathy: Frequently Asked Questions

 

And finally, do you know how to “plus” your remedy bottle?  This case depended on it!!!!  Potencies wear out!  You have to know how to raise the potency!  See my FAQ article!  And by the way… look at what homeopathy can do!  All this barking at people and other dogs, growling at puppies out of jealousy and screeching for attention…this is not normal behavior, you do not have to put up with this!  The constitutional remedy will put a stop to it; so, if you’ve got a dog with behavior problems?  See a homeopath!  Just not a vet.

Bye, see you again next time!

_______________________

Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom

Elaine takes online cases. Write to her at [email protected]

Visit her website: https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com

About the author

Elaine Lewis

Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.
Elaine is a passionate homeopath, helping people offline as well as online. Contact her at [email protected]
Elaine is a graduate of Robin Murphy's Hahnemann Academy of North America and author of many articles on homeopathy including her monthly feature in the Hpathy ezine, "The Quiz". Visit her website at:
https://elainelewis.hpathy.com/ and TheSilhouettes.org

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