sick pussy cat

[Tanya Marquette]

Dear Jill

I am hoping for some direction on dealing with a 11-12 yr old female. She's a muted tabby. I am having a hard time defining her condition, but let me try. Her walking is not very strong. She seems to have developed a weakness. I find her reluctant to jump onto or off of things. She will hesitate before jumping or sometimes just sit on the floor. A few times it seemed to me that once she had jumped off the chair or sofa she would simply stop moving for some moments, as if she were gathering strength to walk.
Often she will try to stretch herself over a space as opposed to move with catlike agility. She also seems unsure of hersefl when walking on my table (covered with oodles of papers) or even on the couch which is soft.

Her eating is also not well. Often she will only sample her food and leave it. She goes back many times during the day. Often it seems she eats mainly late into the nite because her food bowls are empty in the morning.

She lacks interest in stalking mice in the house altho she will notice their noise. The effort seems too much for her. She was still micing outdoors during the summer and spring.

History: She was left on my doorstep when barely 4 weeks old, many years ago. At that time I had many cats, including other kittens in the house. She is the last one that remains of 5 cats that I had since I took her in. The last cat that died 1 year ago (Shadow), was one that mothered her in many ways--even mid-wifed her thru her delivery years ago. When that cat died, Puss Puss went thru a lot of changes. She refused to come near me for a long time, even tho she competed with my other cat for space on and around me. Her eating habits declined after Shadow's death and she even imitated Shadow's dying behavior on a couple of occasions.

PP had a rodent ulcer on her lips for a length of time a few years ago. It had gotten pretty bad before I tackled giving PP a remedy. I tried Nit-ac first due to her unforgiving nature. The rx curbed some behaviorial problem but not the ulcer. Next I gave her Con. Due to the difficulty in administering the rx, she received about 4 doses but over 2+? months time. The ulcer began to heal. One lip healed completely; the other about 90%. PP continued to drool a lot due to not being able to close her mouth completely.

This past summer I had a standard exam given to her. She had gum inflammation; an infection on her upper palate that looked like a large white patch; her skin was horrible from flea allergies; 2 swollen glands--one mammary and one low in the goin area. She had been falling a lot--losing her balance. She tested negative for feline leukemia and I was told she had an infectionin her system.
I gave her a few doses of Nat mur 200c. There was much improvement. Her eating normalized some; she would eat the wet food again as well as the dry food. Her skin healed beautifully and she seemed to develop a resistence to fleas. And surprisingly, the remaining scar tissue from the rodent ulcer disappeared. She stopped losing her balance, but never returned to normal.
She still is very fussy about eating and sometimes will and sometimes wont. She still seems to prefer the dry food over wet, which historically was not the case until Shadow died. But considering the amount of weight she is gaining, it is obvious that she is eating sufficiently.

She has vomited food on occasion, this morning was the most recent time. It was solid and dry and lite color. Other times it is clear and minimal. But every couple of weeks she tosses up all the solid food.

She seems to be sleeping more and is removing herself more and more. She used to sleep on the couch when I was sitting there, or go upstairs to my bed. Now she goes into an unused BR and sleeps. Sometimes she cries for me to come upstairs and sit with her.

And most recently she developed an eye condition where there was an ooze out of the inner corner. It began on one side and then spread to both sides. The ooze was usually clear but sometimes brownish. It was clearly irritating her as observed by the excessive wet washing that she did repeatedly as well as a blinking. Also, she began to show signs of flea allergy again beginning on the lower spine and then moving up the spine and onto the rib area.

I redosed her once with Nat mur 200c diluted in water. The eye discharge has pretty much ceased, but she is still isolating a lot.

The only other thing to add, is a history of falling off railings. I have an open design in my house. The second floor is a balcony with 2 x 4 railings. The balcony is supported by 4 x 10 beams which she could climb out onto. For years, she sat on the beams end till Shadow took the spot one day. Then she would sit on the 2 x 4 railings. However, after she developed the rodent ulcer, she would slip off the railing regularly--like every few minutes sometimes. Over the years she must have fallen from the railing to the first floor at least a 1/2 dozen times--that's about a 12 foot drop. I think she knocked out most of her front teeth that way. She would slip off the rail and claw herself back up, banging her chin and probably her teeth to boot. Talk about obstinate!
This went on for several years. It is only very lately that she doesnt jump onto to railing.

I dont know whether she should be tested for something again and if so what? Would you think that I should stay with the Nat mur for awhile? or is their something else I should be looking for?

An help will be apreciated.

sincerely,

tanya

[Hugh Harrison]

Dear Tanya,

I couldn't help reading your note to Jill. Although I'm not licensed to
treat animals, I have often treated my own cats or other people's. When I
read your brief case history of PP, I was full of admiration for your
prescribing. I was also drawn to a remedy which you may not have tried as
yet and that is Arsenicum Album in a 30c potency.b.d.s. The reason I suggest
Ars. Alb. is because of the symptoms you mention, viz 'ailments, grief
from; fastidious; fearful; < company and white-brownish discharge.

I hope this may help guide you to what Pp may need.

Best wishes,

Hugh

[Tanya Marquette]

Dear Hugh,

Thanks for you response. Your suggetion of Ars is interesting. I think it is a big one with cats. I used that when my other cat was dying with some success and then used it at a 1M potency when it was clear that she was going to pass over. Cats being so fastidious and fearful make it a good rx to look at.

Thanks again,

tanya