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Sensation Based Materia Medica Stramonium

Written by Szecsődi Ferenc

Homeopathic veterinarian Dr. Ferenc Szecsődi presents a portrait of the cat needing Stramonium, gathered from numerous cured cases. The mentals include violent terror and the feeling of being pursued.

Stramonium is a herb belonging to the Solanaceae plant family and is the basis for homeopathic medicines. The main characteristics of herb-based homeopathic medicines are sensitivity and reactivity to external stimuli. This holds for the Solanaceae family to a greater extent.

The typical sensations of this family of plants include aggressiveness, violent terror, the feeling of being pursued, murder, life and death, “killed,” throbbing, clamping, and choking feelings, etc.

The passive reactions to the sensations are numbness, daze, insensitivity to stimuli, cowardice, weakness, faintness, and unconsciousness.

As opposed to passive reactions, the active reactions to the sensations include sharpened senses, screaming, cramps, fleeing, panic, rage, striking, biting, etc.

Stramonium belongs to the acute miasms according to Dr Sankaran’s classification.

The Stramonium cat

The Stramonium cat likes safety, and this characteristic comes from the sensation. According to it, the outside world is full of danger and terror that can reach the cat at any moment. We can say that the Stramonium cat likes to hide in safe places. It feels good in its nook, a covered basket, or a simple cardboard box.

It likes being on top of a closet, or if it is open, even inside. Another favourite place of the cat is the top of the kitchen cabinets. But it also likes to be with its owner. It enjoys being in its owner’s lap or lying beside them. Sometimes this need to be close to its owner is so strong that if they put it down, it just jumps back up, or if the owner leaves, the cat waits for them patiently and then returns to their lap.

This pattern is a subtle “clinging.” One of the key symptoms of Stramonium is clinging to people or objects. This clinging can also be considered a subtle escaping to a safe place. Fleeing is the active reaction of the Solanaceae family.

The clinging is extremely prominent when the cat experiences an “emergency” situation. When this happens, the cat is in a delirious state, its pupils are dilated, and it holds on tightly to its owner and cannot be put down because it digs its claws into the owner’s clothes. However, if the owner grips the cat tightly, it calms down and soon becomes “normal” again.

If there are more cats in the house, it gets along with them but just barely. It rarely participates in their activities, and is constantly anxious. The only place it feels fine is near its owner, in their lap, or in its usual safe place. If a new cat comes to the community, the Stramonium cat feels pursued and terrorized (sensation).

The mildest reaction is going to the owner and wanting to sit in their lap and be petted (active reaction – subtle fleeing). Visible escaping is a stronger active reaction, in which case the cat flees in panic and tries to hide not only in its box or on top of the closet but anywhere, for example under the bed, behind the refrigerator, or behind the desk drawers.

It is difficult to remove the cat from its hiding place because it hangs onto something very tightly there. The third form of active reactions is when the cat reacts to the sensation of terror with violent rage, hissing, clawing, or biting. The assault is always preceded by a warning hiss. This last form of reaction is relatively rare. Also, the cat can hide from danger only symbolically, in which case it literally turns its back on the danger and does not look at it.

The Stramonium cat’s condition significantly worsens in the evening, at night, when it is dark. The cat is a very light sleeper due to its increased sensitivity to noise, and it is in a constant state of alertness. At night, it wanders around the room slowly and stealthily, occasionally it stops to mew desperately.

It is in a delirious state, and feels completely lost. At any sudden noise, it stops, starts shuddering, does not know where it is and what it should do. In other words, it is in a great confusion. The key is the owner’s voice, because the cat will go to its owner and relax the minute they start calling for it.

Another evening script entails a delirious cat with dilated pupils approaching its owner and scratching or biting them (active reaction). The cat is not aware of the strength of its scratches and bites.

The Stramonium cat eats alone, slowly, carefully, and very little at once because it is particular about its food. Milk causes indigestion.

The Stramonium cat most often needs to be taken to the vet because of extreme fear and anxiety. This anxiety manifests physically in compulsive actions: the cat is constantly licking or gnawing itself. In mild cases, it can lead to bald patches in its fur, which often leads to oozing eczema. In cases like this, regular treatment is ineffective as a long-term solution, however the cat can make a full recovery with the aid of homeopathy.

Behavior during chronic anamnesis at the vet’s office

The cat is always taken to the vet’s office in a carrier. When the doctor opens the carriers, the cat remains inside for a while or emerges but very slowly. However, if the top of the carrier is taken off, the place stops being safe, and the cat exits.

It walks carefully and pays attention to the noises and events. It also utters desperate cries for help. When the vet claps, it stops for a moment (passive reaction) and then flees in immediate panic (active reaction). It hides behind the fridge or the closet, or in the desk. It cowers in its hiding place and cannot be taken out easily.

When the vet manages to catch it and brings it close to their chest, the cat clutches at the vet and starts to relax. There are cases when the cat is so lost that it does not even notice the clapping and the noises (passive reaction). Only louder noises (e.g. whistling) can jolt the cat out of this state and urge it to flee.

While trying to escape, its consciousness is often not active, and it can jump at the closed door or window. If the carrier is open and in the cat’s sight, it escapes to that safe place. It often sits with its back to the carrier’s door.

About the author

Szecsődi Ferenc

Szecsődi Ferenc (DVM) was born in 1963 in Becej, Serbia. He graduated in 1989 from the Veterinary Faculty at Belgrade University. In 2002 he started to study alternative methods of healing. He is schooled in chiropractic, hypnosis, the Silva mind control method and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). In 2008 he graduated Veterinary Homeopathy in Budapest, Hungary and is a member of IAVH. In 2011 he graduated from the four year Homeopathic School “Hahnemann” in Novi Sad. Serbia. In 2015 graduated from the Master Level course in Novi Sad that was organized in collaboration with the “Other song academy” from Mumbai, India. Szecsődi is a lecturer at the Veterinary Homeopathic School in Budapest and also at the “Hahnemann” School in Novi Sad. He has been leading the Veterinary Homeopathic School in Belgrade, Serbia, since 2012. He applies the Sensation method in both his human and animal cases. Szecsődi studies the writings of Indian homeopaths, such as Rajan Sankaran, Jayes Shah, Dinesh Chauchan and Mahesh Gandi. He lives and works in Becej, Serbia.

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