Larry A. Bernstein, VMD
Natural Holistic Pet Care
751 N.E. 168 Street
North Miami Beach, Florida 33162

This is a copy of an actual case report for AVH Certification and is copyrighted 1999

An Acute Case of Vomiting and Diarrhea

Bernstein - Spenser

May 4, 1994

General History

Spenser is a 5 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel male that has not been vaccinated except at 6 weeks of age by the breeder. He is fed a combination of home prepared food and Petguard. His only medical history to date includes a dose of Thuja 1M given in March.

He is normally a complacent puppy. He likes to be close to his owner and usually follows her to different rooms whenever she is working. He likes to be in the same room but does not need to be in her lap. He usually sleeps on the wood floor during the day and in bed at night. He sleeps on top of the blankets. He is friendly (even submissive) to the adult dogs. His appetite is usually adequate but not overly hungry and his thirst appears normal.

Presentation.

Vomiting and loose stool for 12 hours. Vomits at the sight of food. Foul smelling diarrhea. Dog is going off by himself, shivering and seeking warm areas. Vomits after drinking. Growled at other dog when she came into his space. He did not appear to be clinically dehydrated but due to the acute onset and rapid development we will monitor him frequently.

Rubrics Used (MacRep - Complete)

Mind;Company;aversion to

Generalities;Heat;vital lack of

Stomach;Vomiting;General;drinking ;after

Stomach;Appetite;wanting

Rectum;Diarrhea

These rubrics were fairly general and the top remedies (via Macrep) included Nux-v, Ars, Nat-m, Phos, Lyc and Puls.

This case seemed to fit my understanding of a Nux-v. remedy picture i.e. wanting to be alone, cold, grouchy and G.I. signs. I felt that an initial dose of Nux-v. 1M was appropriate. It was given at 7:00 PM on the 4th. I also collected some lab work for the morning.

10:00 PM, Spenser came out of his kennel and drank a little water. There was no vomiting.

11:00 PM he showed slight interest in a piece of turkey and took a few bites. He vomited it about 5 minutes later. Another dose of Nux-v. 1M was given at 11:30 PM. It had been four hours and we had seen some definite improvement from the first dose. He was more social, not shivering and drank without vomiting. There was no stool.

He slept (with mom) that night and when he awoke at about 5:00 AM he was interested in the turkey again. He took a few pieces by hand and then went out with the other dogs and seemed to want to play. His appetite improved throughout the day and the remedy was not repeated as it seemed to be acting. By Thursday night the 5th (24 hours after the first dose of Nux-v.) he was well on the road to recovery. He would drink and eat small amounts and there was no vomiting. His stool was semi-loose.

He went on to make a full recovery over the next 48 hours.

This was an interesting case. The first reason was that it was our own dog, he was unvaccinated and truly tested our resolve where homeopathy was concerned. It was also an actual acute case and we do not get to see many of them in our practice. These are usually treated by some of the lay practitioners or the owners We usually only end up with the long standing chronic disease cases.

On a final note, the labwork came back as Parvo antigen positive.