A young Jack Russell of nearly two years was brought to me with the diagnosis of oesophageal ulcers. She had been under veterinary care for several months and treated with Santac and Tagamet, but there had been no improvement. She did not like the injections – all her hair stood on end down her spine. She has also been given Amiphrogel, a soothing gel.
The main symptom is excessive saliva. It is like slimy, stringy eggwhite. She froths at the mouth and then brings up thick cupfuls full. It is not smelly and there is no blood.
It seems to have come on since the birth of her puppies three months ago. During the labour she was screaming, nervous and frightened and seemed like she was in shock.
She doesn’t seem to want to drink cold water but is eating well. She is an outside dog. Sometimes her head seems very hot and with hot ears which are burning and moist. She likes to bury herself or hide under things.
She has a lot of wind, which is worse when she is excited. She appears to be full of wind and her abdomen appears tight like a drum. She has always been a bit gassy.
She is a highly strung, excitable dog.
On the basis of:
Saliva frothy and Saliva viscid
Abdomen, distension tympanitic
Excitement aggravates
Water cold, aversion to
The remedies that came up for consideration included Acon, Arg nit, Cupr, Ign, Kali bic and Phosphorus.
On the basis of the presenting symptom I prescribed Kali Bi 30c one dose and she had a bad aggravation of the salivation for a couple of days. A month later the excessive salivation had reduced considerably, but she was still a bit frothy round the mouth and was still gassy and distended and very hot. Although there was improvement I did not feel there was complete healing.
Argentum nitricum was a better fit to the picture of gassiness, heat and excitability and it also has inflamed and ulcerated mucous membranes and the hawking of thick mucus, so I gave one dose of 200c.
A month later there was no more salivation and she was drinking willingly, the gassiness and distention had gone and she seemed a whole lot happier and less anxious. There was no recurrence of the salivation over the next few months although she is occasionally a bit gassy. In retrospect I do not think the Kali bic was a good prescription and yet the aggravation and improvement initially suggested this. It was a good reminder to focus on the whole picture of the state and what is going on and not just on the obvious key notes. The Arg nit also fitted the aetiology which could have been fear around the birthing process.
