Homoeopathic Society

by Bruce Barwell

Treating cats with homoeopathic medicine is common now, and there are quite a few books on the subject, too. Unfortunately the quality of the books varies greatly, as does the skill of people charging for homoeopathic advice.

Here is a brief guide to the treatment of cats with homoeopathy based on over 30 years experience in prescribing for people and pets.

Some of the medicines I suggest are uncommon, so you need to obtain them from a pharmacy specialising in homoeopathic remedies. or ask your local health shop or pharmacy to get them for you.

The dose is always one drop, regardless of the age or size of the cat, but the frequency of dose I suggest is only a guide. In desperate situations the medicine is given more frequently, if the condition is minor do not give more often than I suggest.

Medicine can be put on food, or directly into the animal’s mouth, or even a drop put on the body where it is sure to be promptly licked off. Medicine can be added to drinking water but if you are doing that you must use a temporary bowl such as a disposable ‘picnic’ one or the container used for takeaway food. The medicine impregnates even glass and can not be washed out, so it is important to use a temporary disposable dish. Three drops to a cup of water is the dosage I use for a water bowl.

Though most conditions can be treated by a cat owner, sometimes the problem needs a vet’s care or consultation with a qualified homoeopath who treats animals.

The essence of the homoeopathic creed is that a substance which causes disease like symptoms in a healthy specimen can be used, if administered in another form, as a cure for a real disease with those symptoms.

There has to be a close match between the symptoms the drug substance can create and the disease ones; that is, there is no one medicine for diarrhoea, but different ones depending on colour of the stool, the odour, whether it was frothy or not, whether the animal had a raised temperature, and so on.

In my list of suggested remedies I give the name of a medicine which I think the one most likely to be of benefit for the condition; but it might not be quite the right one and proper prescribing based on considering less usual symptoms may need to be used. Even small variations in symptom manifestation from cat to cat, or attack to attack can be important.

For this refinement in prescribing you will need to consult a book ( a few that can be recommended are listed here) or consult a professional homoeopath.

No harm will come to the animal if at first you have given a medicine that proved to be of no, or little, benefit.

So, here are my suggested remedies, travelling from patient’s nose to tail….

All remedies I nominate should be in 30C potency (strength) unless another potency is given.

Nose

Snuffles and sneezing from an infectious condition:

At first sign of a cold give Aconitum 3 or 4 times a day for a day or two;

If the nose blocks give Sambucus:

If it runs with thick discharge, (especially if there is sneezing, too), give Pulsatilla;

If the discharge is watery and there is much sneezing give Sabadilla.

If watery but no sneezing, Penthorum.

These four remedies are given 3 or 4 times a day for up to four days.

Polyps up nose: Teucrium, Lemna or Cadmium sulphuricum, once a day for 5 days.

Allergies: Histaminum or Psorinum , once or twice a day as needed for up to 5 days.

Eyes

Surface of eye scratched, but not heavily infected: Calcarea hypophosphoricum, once or twice a day for 5 days.

Glaucoma: Can be treated, but best left to a vet who uses homoeopathy.

Cataracts: Perhaps the same advice as for glaucoma, but you could use Corpus vitreum D6 (from Weleda), once a day for 10 days, or Cataract nosode, once a day for 5 days. Both these medicines may need to be repeated at monthly intervals.

Foreign body in eye: Give Coccus cacti every 2-3 hours for up to 36 hours.

Ears

Inflammation in ears: Hepar sulphuris if a thick discharge or none visible.

Teucrium if a watery discharge that seems to scald healthy skin it touches.

Once or twice a day for up to 5 days.

Haematoma (blood-filled swelling): Kali muriaticum once a day for 3 days.

Mouth

Loose or damaged teeth: Hekla lava, once a day for 5 days.

Tartar calculus: It may be necessary to have this picked off, but you could try Calcarea renalis, which often makes the concretions fall off, once a day for 3 days.

Infected gums, gingivitis: Mercurius nitricum, once or twice a day for up to 10 days.

Throat

Tonsillitis: Barium citricum (also called Baryta citricum), D6 (from Weleda), once or twice a day for up to 10 days. This comes as a powder, give an amount the size of a drop.

Laryngitis: Lachesis, once or twice a day for up to 5 days.

Foreign bodies, bones etc. stuck in throat: Probably need an expert to remove them but on the way to the expert give Lobelia inflata every hour or so.

Lungs

All lung conditions may need expert attention but you could try the following

2 to 4 hourly for up to 3 days.

Bronchitis: Phosphorus,

Pneumonia: Hepar sulphuris

Pleurisy: Bryonia

Heart

Best left to an expert, but homoeopathy can work wonders.

Stomach

Excessive vomiting in a healthy cat might reduce to normal frequency after lpecacuanha, once a day for 3 days;

Robinia : vomiting as if the stomach is secreting too much acid;

Senna: with a breath smelling of acetone (like nail polish).

Pancreas

Pancreatic cancer is not rare in cats. If this has been properly diagnosed, give Cadmium iodatum daily for 5 days, repeating after a gap of 2 or 3 weeks.

Diabetes is very hard to treat successfully, but Datisca 6c may do good.

Intestines

Diarrhoea: Arsenicum album covers most kinds of diarrhoea, give it hourly for 4-5 hours, then less frequently as the cat improves. If Arsenicum proves useless change to Escherichia coli (usually abbreviated to E.coli) every 2-3 hours for up to 3 days.

Constipation: Nux vomica or Aluminium phosphoricum once a day for 3 days.

Worms

Extravagant claims have been made about homoeopathic remedies ability to kill worms (ditto for herbal remedies, for that matter), you could try Cuprum oxydatum nigrum 6X once a day for 5 days.

Liver

Chionanthus, once or twice daily for 5 days, repeated a few times at 2 week intervals, is a general remedy.

Kidney

Lespedeza 3c potency, is marvellous over a range of conditions. One of my patients found it did the cat so much good he took it himself!

Kidney and bladder stones: Calcarea renalis, once a day for 10 days.

Bladder

Dribbling urine, or inability to urinate, especially in male cats, often responds to Thlaspi. Give it once or twice a day for 10 days.

Skin

Reaction to flea bites is met with Flea antigen (from Naturo Pharm). It renders the bites less irritating to the cat, so much so you may under-estimate the animal’s flea burden. Some animals become host to house-dust mites, which cause eczema-like complaints. Give House-dust mite daily for 10 days. Aethiops antimonialis is a ‘broad-spectrum’ eczema remedy; give daily for up to 12 days.

First Aid

To reduce the effects of shock on a cat when it travels, goes to a new home, a cat show or has a vet visit, give Aconitum, 1M potency, before and after the event. The frequency depends on the severity of the situation. Arnica is over-rated as a medicine for shock or surgery; it carries the risk of making bleeding worse. For broken bones give Eupatorium for 4 or 5 days, followed by Symphytum for a similar period. After this regime fractures of several bones or large bones may need Calcarea phosphoricum daily for up to 10 days. Clean cuts need Staphisagria, puncture wounds Ledum, and infected bites Pyrogenum. All 2 or 3 times daily for up to 10 days.

In this outline I have not mentioned serious epidemic diseases, and a few other conditions, because the range of remedies that could treat them is too large to cover here but be assured they can be treated very well with homoeopathy. Some people who advertise themselves as specialising in homoeopathy for animals have no worthwhile training in homoeopathy and could prove to be a waste of money; I suggest you patronise only people who are members of the practitioner register of the New Zealand Council of Homeopaths experienced with animals. Council members use the initials RCHom.

A list of registered homoeopaths can be viewed at: www.homeopathy.co.nz

BOOKS

• Homoeopathic Treatment of Small Animals Christopher Day
• Remedies for Cats George McLeod
• Your Healthy Cat H G Wolff

The best source of homoeopathic books is the Bookroom of the NZ Homoeopathic Society, Box 67095, Mt Eden, Auckland.

The bookroom is open on Wednesdays at 320 Mt Eden Rd, Auckland.