My Chihuahua, Ani's, corneal ulcer coupled with Nausea/Vomiting; Low BEAM

[JodyLT]

Hi Everyone -
My Chihuahua Ani is pretty sick. She has a corneal ulcer from attacking my other dog and he got her in the eye.
The injury was almost 2 weeks ago. I took her to a veterinary eye doc who is very good a few days after the injury after taking her to a local general vet. The eye doc said her epithelial cells were not sticking on her cornea to properly repair the ulcer, so he numbed her eye, wiped off the epithelials that weren't working, took a tiny needle and lightly scratched the surface to hopefully create a better environment for them to stick and sent us home with a few meds - Ofloxacin Ophthalmic Solution 0.3% (3x/day in both eyes to prevent infection); Oculenis Biohance drops as a repair for her eye, Doxycycline 100mg which he said helps to heal these things and he wanted to prescribe an NSAID but I said no, so he suggested Gabapentin, which I already had.

I tried Euphrasia on her early with no change. I tried Sulfur; no change.

After 5 days on these pharma drugs, last night she threw up a couple of hours after dinner - some food but mostly thick foam - and kept me up all night just really not feeling well. I gave her a couple of syringes of Slippery Elm tea but it seemed to make her very frothy phlegmy and she started throwing up yellow bile last night during the night and continued today several times. No appetite.

Her BEAM is awful - low energy, seems sick, just wants to curl up and rest although a couple of times today she did run out the back door with the dogs, barked, so she had some life in her. But generally, her BEAM is way off.

After she was throwing up bile today, she has a lot of Nux characteristics in her personality, so I decided to try a dose of 30C Nux. At first I thought it was working as about 20 mins later, she wanted some of one kind of treat (not others she normally also likes - she's normally a foodie), and she kept it down.

About 2 or 3 hrs later, she threw up more yellow bile (no treat in there), so I gave her another 30C dose (too much?)

That created no change and in fact she seemed worse re her BEAM.

I waited a couple of hours and did more research and decided to try her on Arsenicum 30C. Quite a few of her personality traits and symptoms matched up there.

No real change since. That was at about 5pm. The Doxy and, more rarely I read, the Ofloxacin as well as the Gabapentin all can cause GI upset, vomiting and diarrhea, which she also has a bit of; not bad though. I don't want to stop the eye drops because I don't know if that will keep her stubborn eye from healing properly. I am stopping the Doxy and Gaba but I also don't want her in pain.

I boiled a couple of chicken legs with celery and carrot for her to at least have a tablespoon of broth tonight. She took a few licks from my finger but then stopped; not interested. Tried again later; not at all interested.

Her temp is normal - 102.

Today was the first full day of not eating so I'm not freaked out. But I'm not sure what else to do for her. Since this is an acute illness, maybe I should look again and focus more on common symptoms instead of characteristic ones, since we hope it'll be moving out quickly.

Any suggestions/observations would be so appreciated. Thanks!

Jody

 

[Dr. Jeff]

OMG Jody, I'm so sorry to hear about Ani.

Wonderful that you got her in to a vet ophthalmologist right away!

As you know by now, indolent ulcers are persistent, problematic and prominent (3 out of 4 of the "Ps"). And may not respond to conventional therapy for weeks, months and years. Speed of response depends on the individual's breed/genetics, body type, vitality and lifestyle.

Because these ulcers tend to be a chronic (or indolent) problem, it's especially great that you are addressing them homeopathically.

You bring up many important homeopathic prescribing and dosing questions.

Most of them are answered in any of the vitality, balance and homeopathy seminars that are in your resource area of the website. I can't wait to hear, after you watch or listen to one, if the info. is helpful in this context.

Her low BEAM and vomiting may have been triggered by imbalance of her microbiome. It would be great to focus on restoring it over the next few months by feeding fermented foods (like Answer's), varied probiotics, and IONbiome (which is not a probiotic).

In addition, Texas A&M GI lab can run a "dysbiosis" index to determine exactly how her natural bacteria may be imbalanced.

Canine and Feline Microbiota Dysbiosis Index

The dysbiosis index (DI) is a quantitative PCR-based assay that can be used to assess the feline (Sung et al, JFMS 2022) or canine (AlShawaqfeh M et al,

vetmed.tamu.edu

In addition to the homeopathic dosing we discussed, definitely continue the Oculenis hyaluronic lubricating drops which are awe-some corneal support. Maybe even consider hot compressing her eye before using the drops to increase the supportive effect.

Is she wearing anything around her neck, like an e-collar, to keep her from rubbing her eye?

BTW-IMHO, a 102 temp. indicates a low grade inflammatory state (<101.5 is normal). This is expected as her body's natural healing mechanisms (inflammation) do their job works to help repair her ulcer.

 

[JodyLT]

OMG Jody, I'm so sorry to hear about Ani.

Wonderful that you got her in to a vet ophthalmologist right away!

As you know by now, indolent ulcers are persistent, problematic and prominent (3 out of 4 of the "Ps"). And may not respond to conventional therapy for weeks, months and years. Speed of response depends on the individual's breed/genetics, body type, vitality and lifestyle.

Because these ulcers tend to be a chronic (or indolent) problem, it's especially great that you are addressing them homeopathically.

You bring up many important homeopathic prescribing and dosing questions.

Most of them are answered in any of the vitality, balance and homeopathy seminars that are in your resource area of the website. I can't wait to hear, after you watch or listen to one, if the info. is helpful in this context.

Her low BEAM and vomiting may have been triggered by imbalance of her microbiome. It would be great to focus on restoring it over the next few months by feeding fermented foods (like Answer's), varied probiotics, and IONbiome (which is not a probiotic).

In addition, Texas A&M GI lab can run a "dysbiosis" index to determine exactly how her natural bacteria may be imbalanced.

Canine and Feline Microbiota Dysbiosis Index

The dysbiosis index (DI) is a quantitative PCR-based assay that can be used to assess the feline (Sung et al, JFMS 2022) or canine (AlShawaqfeh M et al,

vetmed.tamu.edu

In addition to the homeopathic dosing we discussed, definitely continue the Oculenis hyaluronic lubricating drops which are awe-some corneal support. Maybe even consider hot compressing her eye before using the drops to increase the supportive effect.

Is she wearing anything around her neck, like an e-collar, to keep her from rubbing her eye?

BTW-IMHO, a 102 temp. indicates a low grade inflammatory state (<101.5 is normal). This is expected as her body's natural healing mechanisms (inflammation) do their job works to help repair her ulcer.

s

OMG Jody, I'm so sorry to hear about Ani.

Wonderful that you got her in to a vet ophthalmologist right away!

As you know by now, indolent ulcers are persistent, problematic and prominent (3 out of 4 of the "Ps"). And may not respond to conventional therapy for weeks, months and years. Speed of response depends on the individual's breed/genetics, body type, vitality and lifestyle.

Because these ulcers tend to be a chronic (or indolent) problem, it's especially great that you are addressing them homeopathically.

You bring up many important homeopathic prescribing and dosing questions.

Most of them are answered in any of the vitality, balance and homeopathy seminars that are in your resource area of the website. I can't wait to hear, after you watch or listen to one, if the info. is helpful in this context.

Her low BEAM and vomiting may have been triggered by imbalance of her microbiome. It would be great to focus on restoring it over the next few months by feeding fermented foods (like Answer's), varied probiotics, and IONbiome (which is not a probiotic).

In addition, Texas A&M GI lab can run a "dysbiosis" index to determine exactly how her natural bacteria may be imbalanced.

Canine and Feline Microbiota Dysbiosis Index

The dysbiosis index (DI) is a quantitative PCR-based assay that can be used to assess the feline (Sung et al, JFMS 2022) or canine (AlShawaqfeh M et al,

vetmed.tamu.edu

In addition to the homeopathic dosing we discussed, definitely continue the Oculenis hyaluronic lubricating drops which are awe-some corneal support. Maybe even consider hot compressing her eye before using the drops to increase the supportive effect.

Is she wearing anything around her neck, like an e-collar, to keep her from rubbing her eye?

BTW-IMHO, a 102 temp. indicates a low grade inflammatory state (<101.5 is normal). This is expected as her body's natural healing mechanisms (inflammation) do their job works to help repair her ulcer.

Thank you, Dr. Jeff! To address some of the wealth of great info above. . Thankfully, she is much better today. Her BEAM is almost back to her normal. Yay! I've had her on a chicken bone broth today with adding some of the boiled chicken pieces from making this broth and some of the celery and carrots also from the broth to the mix this afternoon, when I saw she was keeping it all down and had a good appetite. Will continue this and start slowly adding a little raw into the food tomorrow.
I've stopped the doxy and dialed down the antibiotic drops to 2x/day; the eye doc isn't happy about that one bec it only lasts, they said, for the 4-6 hours, so wants me dosing 3x/day. Would love your thoughts on that. Yes, staying on 3x/day for the hyaluronic acid. She is keeping the eye open now, so doesn't seem she is in any pain. I've stopped the Gabapentin 2 days ago too.

Re her dybiosis, I've been working with Animal Biome for many months. We've had 2 stool samples checked and I've got intimate knowledge of Ani's (and Sophie's) microbiome imbalances. LOL. They were both on oral poop pills, as I think we previously discussed, for awhile. Made a big difference in Sophie but not as much in Ani. I stopped those about a month ago. Is there anything different about the Texas A&M offering?

I have Ani on Dr. Tobias PreforPro prebiotics and Digest from Four Leaf Rover for probiotics and Enzymes.

Love Answers; we semi-regularly have the fermented goat's milk with raw honey and cinnamon that is included in it...yum! And, have a fermented fish stock in the freezer I think. I'll pull that out.

Ani has been wearing a cone of shame since it happened; she is now over the period of pawing at her eye, so when I am home and she is with me, I take it off (it totally affects the B and the M of her BEAM), but otherwise, she wears it.

I have to check out IONbiome. Will do that. And yes, the course in the members area is great. I'm going through that.

Thank you!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Ofloxacin 3x a day is fine. It will keep the ophthalmologist happy and is a much lower systemic dose than an oral anti-biotic would be.

 

[JodyLT]

Ofloxacin 3x a day is fine. It will keep the ophthalmologist happy and is a much lower systemic dose than an oral anti-biotic would be.

Ok thx for telling me. I’ll wait til tomorrow if she’s feeling all better.

 

[JodyLT]

Update on Ani's condition: As of this morning, 2/27, Ani's BEAM is moderate. I introduced a little bit of raw, a brand she liked in the past, along with some pieces of the boiled chicken and veg and broth. She was fussy about eating it; I think if there was no raw in there, she might have gobbled it down like yesterday. She still ate most of it.

She is more quiet today than her normal self but not presenting as sick as the other day. Still not doing any pawing of her left eye with the ulcer. I'm continuing the two eye meds and upping her today again to 3x/day for the Ofloxacin.

Her temp today is 102.1.

The Symphytum should arrive today. I will keep the forum posted on how this goes.

Wondering why the QTip method vs grinding between 2 spoons and putting in her mouth? I understand dissolving in a couple of ounces of filtered water only maintains its efficacy for 1 or 2 days; is this true? As opposed to creating a liquid solution with alcohol and then diluting yourself from that. Thank you!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

The size, and method, of giving the dose matters:

Does the Size of the Dose Really Matter? - Jeff Feinman

This case exemplifies the importance of testing the sensitivity of every patient in deciding the dose of medicine to use. Currently, my patients initially receive one (or less) teaspoons from a 30c solution, or one dose of an LM 0/1.

hpathy.com

Here's a few words from that article where I quote the Organon:

In ¶ 278 he writes-“Now the question arises what this ideal degree of smallness is, the degree that is certain and gentle in its remedial effect: how small should the dose of a given correctly chosen homeopathic medicine be to cure a case of disease in the best way? To solve this problem, to determine for a given medicine used in homoeopathic practice what dose would be sufficient and at the same time small enough to effect the gentlest, quickest cure, is not a matter of theoretical conjecture, as one can easily understand. Theorizing and specious sophistry cannot enlighten us on this subject, nor can every possible eventuality be tabulated in advance. Only pure experiment, the meticulous observation of the sensitivity of each patient, and sound experience can determine this in each individual case…” (author’s emphasis)

It's extremely worthwhile to read more about Hahnemann's "Advanced Methods" of liquid potency dosing:

[Homoeopathic Online Education, David Little] Dose and Potency According to The Organon

simillimum.com

 

[JodyLT]

The size, and method, of giving the dose matters:

Does the Size of the Dose Really Matter? - Jeff Feinman

This case exemplifies the importance of testing the sensitivity of every patient in deciding the dose of medicine to use. Currently, my patients initially receive one (or less) teaspoons from a 30c solution, or one dose of an LM 0/1.

hpathy.com

Here's a few words from that article where I quote the Organon:



It's extremely worthwhile to read more about Hahnemann's "Advanced Methods" of liquid potency dosing:

[Homoeopathic Online Education, David Little] Dose and Potency According to The Organon

simillimum.com

Thank you, Dr Jeff. I do understand this. But why with a QTip, as opposed to crushing the pellets or part of a dropper of the liquid? Are you saying starting with the very small amount on a QTip is honoring Dr Hahnemann’s point about the very smallest amount that can be efficacious?

There are also concomitants that have developed. Excessive licking of her genitals, greater thirst for smallish amts more often and resultant more frequent urinating. Ani is also more jumpy when touched, as if surprised each time, and has an aura of gloom like it’s all too much; that part is conjecture, of course.
She is not growling at or trying to attack Jasper today; another new development from her usual self. Lethargic.
She did gobble down the chicken in the pot I made fresh again for her. No raw. She’s not interested in that. So she had an appetite but just for that and she’ll take dehydrated chicken breast treats.

Since I started her on 6C Symphytum today, what do I do with these new developments? Stay the symphytum course and see if healing begins or take her case with the full set of symptoms?

thank you!
Jody

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Great questions as usual Jody!

I do understand this. But why with a QTip, as opposed to crushing the pellets or part of a dropper of the liquid? Are you saying starting with the very small amount on a QTip is honoring Dr Hahnemann’s point about the very smallest amount that can be efficacious?

The difference is twofold. Both water vs. dry dosing as well as the ability to modify the water dose (but not dry crushed pellets).

Since I started her on 6C Symphytum today, what do I do with these new developments? Stay the symphytum course and see if healing begins or take her case with the full set of symptoms?

You may want to plan for at least 35 days of Symphytum dosing as her body re-balances and new symptoms emerge. The ones that persist may help guide to a chronic remedy.

Monitor her squinting and eye redness (in addition to everything else).

 

[JodyLT]

Great questions as usual Jody!



The difference is twofold. Both water vs. dry dosing as well as the ability to modify the water dose (but not dry crushed pellets).



You may want to plan for at least 35 days of Symphytum dosing as her body re-balances and new symptoms emerge. The ones that persist may help guide to a chronic remedy.

Monitor her squinting and eye redness (in addition to everything else).

Wonderful, wonderful. I will do that. Today, her BEAM is improved greatly. She is still finicky about food (unlike her usually), but has a good appetite for the boiled chicken/veggies dish. Got a good probiotic in there last night and this morning so at least I know she's getting that, too.

Either the Symphytum has helped kick in Ani's VF to start the healing of some of her symptoms (including the eye ulcer I hope), or her own VF took over regardless of whether the remedy had anything to do with it; either way, I'm delighted she is feeling better today.

I will keep the group posted on how Ani's symptoms develop over the course of the Symphytum, as well as the report from her eye doc next Friday, after a week on the Symphytum. Looking for her stubborn epithelial's to have gotten their marching orders and to be working building the healing bridge over her cornea.
I'll be back. Thank you, as always, Dr. Jeff. You are very much appreciated.

 

[JodyLT]

Update on Ani, 3/5/21: We saw the eye doc for Ani's follow up today and her eye is completely healed! Yay! He was very interested in the Symphytum I'd given her; I brought my Materia Medica to show him it was helping address her epithelial cell issue and her corneal ulcer. He is an open vet; I wish he was a general vet; I haven't found a holistic vet near me.
Dr. Jeff, in our last communication regarding Ani's corneal ulcer and Symphytum, you'd suggested I might want to keep her on it for about a month as symptoms emerge and her body rebalances and see if the symptoms guide to a chronic remedy.
Ani's appetite is back (she's a bit fussier than she was but less so than last I wrote) and her BEAM is great. There are no other symptoms I'm seeing, outside of what I originally took her case about, which is behavior; her sudden growling and attacking of, mostly our male dog, Jasper, who she's just as likely to kiss and tap dance on. She is Jasper's wing girl, standing by his flank, waiting for him to make a move outside and then, once he does, she tears alongside him.
I wonder if I should open another case for her behavioral issue in the forum, but do you think I still continue the Symphytum?
Thanks!