Case

Case

Domestic Short Hair Cat – aged 9 years plus
Complaint: Skin condition
Date: 24th June 2009
WH is a spayed DSH cat aged over 9 years. She joined the family from the SPCA
when she was approximately 2 years old. The reason for this consultation is that
her skin has little lumps over her body. They are predominately on her back but
can be found all over. They are raised but don‟t appear to be bothering her. They
are skin coloured and her skin is flaky. Her fur looks in good condition although
she does appear a little grubby and lacks interest in her appearance.
Generals
 Raised lumps over her body predominately on her back
 No discoloration of the skin
 White flaky skin
 Tatty ears
Mental / Emotional

 Independent
 Self contained
Remedy: Sulphur 30c once daily for seven days
Case Analysis
Individualisation of the case
Personal History
She is irregularly vaccinated and it is assumed that she was vaccinated in
November 2008 when she last went to the Vet. She went to the vet as she was
very thin, scratching and had lost weight. She was treated for fleas and a flea
allergy was assumed so she was prescribed steroids, prednisone assumed and
given a flea treatment. This flea treatment was repeated in February this year.
Although she doesn‟t appear to be itching or have any fleas her skin is still raised
in lumps and it appears she has white dandruff.
This skin condition first started about 4 years ago and she has been annually on
steroids. It is worse in summer, the assumption being that there are more fleas in
summer.
She is regularly wormed with a worm tablet from the vets, the last time being 3
months ago.
She has suffered from abscesses in the past, over 4 years ago. Her ears are tatty
from fighting. There are a number of wild cats in the area.
She is the only animal in the family at present although another comes to stay.
She always finds her pecking order and although she doesn‟t appear to be the
boss she is.
When dogs visit she isn‟t aggressive but she doesn‟t back down if challenged.
As she came from the SPCA there is no knowledge of her family history or of her
formative years.
There is also a ½ circle finger nail size smooth lump on her shoulder and she has
a saggy under carriage.
Generals
She spends most her time outside night and day. This is at the owner‟s
preference although she does not seem to mind. She may ask to come in
occasionally by crying at a door but doesn‟t continue. When she does come inside
she is a little hesitant but settles happily.
During the day she sleeps mainly in the garden in the sun hidden behind plants.
She is fed biscuits and whiskers singles. She has a good appetite and doesn‟t
leave food. There are no marked dislikes but the owner believes she doesn‟t like
the home brands as much.
If the other cat, neutered male, younger than her, is at home she will check out
what he‟s eating but apart from that is pretty relaxed about food.
She will let the chickens get her food if they challenge her.
Always greets the car when people arrive home.
Mental / Emotional

She is not anti-social; she checks out people when they come to visit from a
distance and then will come for a pat.
Her owner feels she is fairly content, likes to be around people but not under their
feet. She is independent and can be a little standoffish.
If she feels she‟s missing out on something she will let you know she‟s there.
She runs and hides from the vacuum cleaner. As stated previously with dogs she
will not challenge and may hide but will stand her ground if challenged.
Methodology

The methodology used is termed “Physical Generals” by Ian Watson and is a
variation of classical or constitutional homeopathy. The entire animal will be
taken into account as far as possible. There will be a greater emphasis placed on
the physical symptoms. There are two reasons for this:
 the central focus of the case is physical as there are limited mental and
 The mental and emotional issues are based on the owner‟s interpretation
Miasm
The Sycotic miasm is indicated due to the over production of the skin cells causing
the lumps.
Repertorisation
Radar has been used to repertorise this case. The results are on a separate sheet.
Differentiation
Looking at the repertorisation the remedies that came up with a high score were
Sulphur, Phosphorus, Lycopodium and Calcarea. Another remedy that is a
possibility is Thuja. There is no reason to indicate that vaccinosis is the cause of
these skins eruptions but there is always the possibility of over vaccinating with
animals or vaccinating when the animal is in a weakened state. Thuja does have
excessive skin growths.
Sulphur
 Robin Logan talks of sulphur being the best known „skin remedy‟.
 Sulphur„s skin is said to be dry and scaly lie the client‟s but with sulphur every little injury suppurates. This suppuration is not obvious with the client.  Boericke talks of sulphur subjects being thin but with a good appetite as is  The client appeared grubby and I didn‟t see her grooming herself which I find unusual in a cat, sulphur subjects are averse to washing and are considered to be dirty filthy people.  The client has had several prescriptions of suppressive steroids and sulphur subjects tend to get worse for suppression. Thuja
 Boericke talks of the main action of Thuja being on the skin.
 In the client the eruptions are mainly on her back where she is thickly covered
with fur, Thuja tends to have eruptions only covered parts. Lycopodium
 Robin Logan believes that sulphur and lycopodium skin symptoms are virtually
indistinguishable and that the two remedies are closely linked. As there are similarities with client‟s skin conditions and a sulphur subject then lycopodium would be similar as well.  Although lycopodium has chronic eczema it tends to be linked with urinary, gastric and hepatic disorders which are not apparent in this client.  The client tends to be the top cat but doesn‟t appear to exhibit the bullying Phosphorus
 As mentioned above I did not see this cat wash herself and she appeared
grubby, phosphorus skin issues are aggravated by washing.  The client‟s skin was dry and scaly and so is phosphorus but phosphorus tends to bleed easily and the itch requires scratching until raw. At this time the client is not showing any signs of itchiness associated with the skin eruptions.  The cat loves company but doesn‟t pine when her owners aren‟t around this could be seen as a phosphorus attitude of loving company but the feelings being superficial. Calcarea
 Calcarea is another remedy in which the eruptions are worse for washing. As
mentioned above the client does appear to wash often.  The client will stand up for herself when she must and this could be seen like  The client does not appear to be itchy and Calcarea does not usually have  The client is slight, thin and sleek whereas a Calcarea subject tends to be fat Case Management
This cat is not young but her health and stamina appear to be good. She doesn‟t
appear to jump as much as she used but appears to move freely. She has no
issues keeping herself out of trouble.
Her diet could be improved and this will be suggested. This could be considered
to be an obstacle to cure as could her living outside. Her vitality would be
diminished by the need to keep herself warm in the current weather conditions.
A possible obstacle to cure would be if she went back to the Vet and was
prescribed steroids again. This is unlikely to occur as she doesn‟t appear to be in
any distress and her condition appears good.
Based on Herrings law of cure:
 She should start to care for her appearance more
Posology
I choose to give her Sulphur 30c daily for a week.
Prognosis
I expect her to respond well to the remedy. She is currently not on the steroids. I
would expect to see her caring about her appearance the next time I see her and
the number of lumps to have reduced.
Management
I will see her again in a month. The condition has been a long standing condition
and could take time to resolve. A month should show signs of a change. The
owner doesn‟t spend a lot of time with her so changes may not be noticed
immediately.
I will advise the owner to look at changing her diet to a more natural diet of raw
food. The owner will also be advised to take her to the vet if she shows any signs
of distress or ill health.
There is always the possibility of skin conditions aggravating but I feel the
potency of 30c should not.
Follow Ups:
DSH owner‟s response when I asked her if there was a change in her skin was
that she was all cured. There was no other change observed by the owner or
myself and no additional information provided from the owner.
When we went outside to check her she hid under the car and wouldn‟t come out.
She finally came out to eat some cheese. We were then able to approach her and
check her skin. She still looked grubby but there were no lumps over her skin and
the flaking appeared to be gone.
There has been no change in her diet and there is no apparent change in her
behaviour.
Reflection
She appears to have had a very good response to the remedy.
 Her skin appears to now be smooth and flake free.

The sulphur has elicited a good reaction in the cat. Over the month her skin has
improved until the lumps have gone.
She doesn‟t appear to be taking an additional care of herself but it was dark. She
was also rather timid but this was no different to her previous behaviour.

Her aetiology was suspected to be vaccination. This would imply that if and when
she receives her next vaccination the lumps will reappear.
The obstacle / maintaining causes are unchanged. Her skin condition may return. If the causation was vaccination then when she is vaccinated next the skin may return. Her owner is not that observant of her condition and her diet and living conditions remain as they were. These living conditions would not improve her vitality and immune system.

Source: http://www.animalhomeopath.co.nz/Docs/Studies/DSH%20-%20Case%20Study.pdf