Minutus

I have an IMO interesting update on my kitty who over the summer had
been coughing up worms, and also had begun sneezing and coughing,
presumably (or so I figured) also from worms. I didn't see a lot to go
on:
- occasional short, dry cough;
- occasional sneezes
- had recently become emaciated (took me a while to notice, thru his
fur and his normal summer weight loss!), and fur dry and dull-looking.
Behavior was pretty much the same, maybe a bit lazier. Affectionate as
usual.

Several people made very welcome suggestions, but nothing was jumping
out at me; it seemed there was just not much specific basis for
choosing among the many possibilities!

Then I noticed that one among the "way too many" in a couple of the
general worm rubrics included a remedy I'd thought for years might be
his "constitutional", because of some of the funny and distinctive
things about him (and he was a very funny and distinctive cat!):

- Most noticeably, ever since he was a kitten (from birth??), when he
sat at rest, often the end of his tongue would stick out, just a bit.
It wasn't hugely obvious, but we (esp. my daughter) always found it
really funny! It gave him such a goofy look, even sort of dumb; and
somehow went with his goofy behaviors (which were soooooo endearing!
E.g. bidding for attention by putting himself in really funny poses,
with a "ya gotta love me!" expression; appearing "from nowhere" with a
complacent purr you just couldn't say no to... And that look! )
to just "appear" in your lap, with a manner and expression so
deliriously blissful, that even if you'd *thought* you weren't in the
market for a cat just then, you'd have to change your mind and let him
stay. (Except for my husband, who's immune to all that from the cats.
) When I left the house for a walk he could be "dangerous", as
his way of bidding for attention was to throw himself down belly-up a
few feet in front of me--and a couple of times when I was carrying
something and couldn't see the ground, he nearly damaged both of us by
getting walked on!
other cats; when there were kittens, sometimes he'd stalk them, and
attack them pretty... well, excessively. And seemed to enjoy it, in a
mean kind of way. (Hard to describe this very well, but that's how it
felt to me.) More recently he'd sometimes do similar to his
few-years-older female housemate--hide behind a chair and jump her as
she passed, chase her shrieking thru the house. (Usually they'd ignore
each other, appearing to share a mutual contempt. ) Sometimes
with the kittens he appeared to be trying (intending) to play, but
would seem to become confused about where the line was between
"playing" and "hunting"; what it was he wanted to do; what was okay,
and what was too much. (So we let them play, but would step in when
things seemed to be getting out of hand.) Other times (or with other
kittens) he seemed to just want to hurt them for the fun of it.
coming in to feed, water, and let in/out, he escaped being put out with
the others, went up to our bedroom and delivered a couple of HUGE poops
and an ocean of pee onto the (sigh, new, fluffy, white) comforter on
our bed. (Soaked way down into the mattress, argh, and BTW vinegar and
baking soda work wonders for removal of those odors, and now we make
SURE the bedroom doors are closed when we leave!)

Anyway, lacking homeopathic inspiration or sense of certainty, I
started his worm treatment with an herbal tincture made especially for
cats. It seemed to be working *very* well--energy picked up, weight
normalized, fur regained its lustre--but was supposed to be continued
for ten days, and I was at that time leaving town every weekend! (And
no one else in my household is any use for things like dosing cats...)
I hoped the 7 days I'd managed would be enough, but he backslid, again
becoming thin and ill-looking, and at that point no longer wanted the
herbs (previously had eaten them happily in his food), so I tried a
what-the-heck dose of his maybe-constitutional, then left town again...

Now it's been several months, and I'm happy to say the worms seem to be
alllllll gone. He's looking healthy and happy, fur glossier than ever
(slimmer than his previously pudgy weight but not the least emaciated).
And funniest of all (to me), that ol' tongue is now neatly packaged
behind its teeth; no more sticking out. His behavior is a little
different in some subtle ways (well, and he hasn't attacked his
housemate lately). He's a happy, happy guy--and looking quite
handsome, in place of his former goofiness.

Well, I guess this is not a hard prescription to make... I'll write
below (after a gap) what I gave, but would also be interested to know
whether there were other remedies that came to anyone's mind? (Just
for my own learning and consideration!)

Scroll down...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

I gave Bufo 200c, one dose, one pellet in a tsp or so of cream.

Now whether bufo is a "real" constitutional I don't know, but it's
really acted beautifully on both his "presenting complaint" (worms) and
everything else. I guess an example, in the Eizayagan framework, of
where the "lesional" and "functional" (and perhaps "constitutional",
tho not in the Eizayagan group of "constitutionals") are the same.

With apologies to those for whom the following is "old news" I'll
add, this is an example of "follow the case"--if the acute case (e.g.
the worm symptoms) gives a clear prescribing picture, it makes sense to
begin with that. But if the acute (or similar) case is vague (as this
one seemed to me), then it makes sense to back up into the chronic case
(what I was originally taught as a "constitutional"; what Eizayaga
called the "functional"; and what I am not trying to mostly refer to as
the "chronic"). In this case it seemed an easy choice since the
chronic remedy I'd already chosen (but never given him) was also in at
least the general "worm" rubrics; but actually I would have done the
same if it had not been there--the repertory being necessarily
incomplete, and worms being "disease" rather than "of the patient",
etc.

That's my story. Hope it was entertaining!

Shannon