More to follow plus a study on Bears by Sarah Kinson

Feline case study - a broken leg by Diane Budd

 Introduction

Charlie is a domestic liquorice all sorts cat then 2 months old. His owner described how one day they noticed that his left back leg just wasn’t quite right and that he could not jump or walk like he normally would. He also started meowng a lot to get their attention.

They took him of to the vet who did X-rays which showed that the inner leg was bruised but the leg was actually broken. His leg was strapped, put on painkillers and sent home. His owners contacted me to find out how it had happened and also to see what more they could do for him healing wise, so we did a session.

Offered the following

Arnica oil	No interest
German Chamomile	No interest
Eucalyptus	No interest
Peppermint	No interest
St Johns wort	No interest
Yarrow	Very slight interest. Then turns away
Devils claw m/oil	No interest
Hemp seed	No interest
Comfrey m/oil	He literally tried to climb inside the bottle as soon as I opened it. He sniffed and licked like no tomorrow. He could’t get enough of it and really battled to limit it to 3ml. He could have taken as much as he needed; some cats have taken up to 30ml in a day. Guidelines in the book are only there for the untrained.

Outcome

I left the bottle with the owner who told me that every time she appeared with the bottle he would make a run for it and literally “attack” it to get to the oil. This carried on for 8 days after which when offered the bottle and the oil he totally ignored it.  

Charlie went back to the vet a week earlier than he should have as it seemed he was getting frustrated with his bandaged leg and was meowing in frustration.  The vet was astonished at the rapid improvement and could not believe how well and quickly he had healed. X-rays showed all was fine. He now walks with a very slight limp but its hardly noticeable and loves to jump and climb like he used to.

My lesson with Charlie was the simplicity of what he selected – he needed just one thing, which I learnt to honour and respect.

Cats and Primates to follow

Hopefully next weekend I will be posting some informative cat case studies recently submitted by students that I think readers will find very helpful.

I will also be posting my visit to a monkey sanctuary.

Last weeks courses

As always I had such an inspirational week teaching and meeting old and new faces. 

We started off with the two day canine course at Tilley farm, where we witnessed some very positive changes in the dogs that we worked with. The anxious ones left very relaxed and did not seemed phased by anything that had previously upset them. Then there was Hen, a young lab with possible teething problems, she was totally focused on spirulina, followed by arnica powder mixed with rice bran. Interestingly she did not select any arnica macerate, nor was she interested in bees wax or vegetable oils. This perfectly demonstrated that a lab will select only the remedies from our kit that are needed and not be drawn to fatty oils if they are not needed. "It was an absolute pleasure for Hen and I to spend such a time with you.  We love what you are sharing with the world and are enthralled to be a part of that, helping others to help them selves in such a natural, instinctive way. Thank you again Caroline for an amazing six days, I had the best time, and the best little cottage too, a real treat for me.  I also enjoyed Toms lectures please say thank you to him' Tracy.

The next two days were followed by pharmacology and pharmacokinetics, which to some at first seemed quite challenging, however,  Tom (who has since received many emails thanking him for his work in this field) brought the subject to life and showed how its application made sense in our work.'Thanks Caroline - doing the science has actually given me a real sense of confidence when out in the field. When you can tell someone why a particular oil works and is chosen it gives it all so much more credibility' Carly.    "I did enjoy the science  tutorial with Tom, definitely makes it easier to understand than just  reading it from a book! Susan H"

The last two days were spent at Horse World where we worked with some incredible horse personalities. One being a retired Police horse of 17hh who appeared quite unresponsive to begin with, however, once I followed the subtle signs that he gave, it led me to continue with a particular selection of oils. He then became engaged in the whole process, lowering his head, almost to my knees so that I could apply certain oils to his poll, while he closed his eyes. 

A yearling that we also worked with had been neglected and starved. The first day he chose oils to help him relax, which resulted in him finishing the session laying down fast asleep. This was the first time this had been witnessed by any of the staff. When we followed up with him the next day he seemed very calm and relaxed and did not want any behavioural oils. Instead he was very particular in only selecting nettle leaf, dandelion root. His droppings were foul smelling and I was surprised he did not want any bacterial oils such as garlic and thyme. Knowing that bitter almond has killed various strains of ecoli in the lab, I thought I would offer it to him. On this second session, this was the first oil he was interested in, however when I presented clove bud oil to him, he pushed into me eagerly trying to lick the oil from my hand, so I offered it to him and then consumed approximately 0.5ml of the oil. This was followed by lots of yawning and closing of eyes. I since let the yard know of his selection.  "Thank you for a brilliant couple of days last week and especially for taking  the time to look at me too! I'm really pleased to say that I haven't had any  of the reactions I would normally expect - migraine, severe fatigue both  physical and mental - which is just amazing. I can feel when I'm running out of the liquorice root and start to crave it! I'm now having about a teaspoon every other day. The 5 drops of carrot seed I had at Horseworld seems to be  all I needed. I tried it the next day and couldn't believe I ever found it  tasted nice....Lucy"

Tom's Pharmacology tutorial
Photo by Martin Stubbs

Police horse: Imperial
Photo by Jane Satchwell

Pony at Horse World selecting Barley Grass
Photo by Jane Satchwell