HSI Newsletter July 2011
Newsletter article submitted by Suzanne Pierce, an HSI student.
Dimsum (or Dimmie) — our 14-year-old Shih Tzu – has always been a loving, affectionate, quiet little guy, following me around everywhere. Last spring I noticed Dimmie’s changing behavior. He didn’t sleep through the night, couldn’t stand on his back legs and wasn’t as aware as he had always been. I thought that maybe he’d had some small strokes. He slowly developed more problems, and after I returned from a one-week trip, Dimmie didn’t acknowledge my presence. He just stood and stared at nothing. When I spoke to him and stroked him he didn’t respond.
If he got anywhere near the two steps in my bedroom he would tumble down. His vision and hearing had been failing for some time, but he had always been able to see enough to get around and come to me to be petted. He had now lost his sense of proprioception and walked into walls, posts, or doors, would just stand in a corner and couldn’t find his way out of a room. When Dimmie would go outside, he would get lost and not be able to find his way back to the house. He couldn’t rest: when he lay down he would twitch, jerk and cry. He paced all the time. His quality of life was so poor that I considered putting him down. It was very sad.
When I realized that he had had another stroke, I contacted our homeopath, Jun Greathouse (a graduate of HSI). She pointed us to the remedy Bothrops 30C to stop his strokes. After 10 days we talked about his symptoms and she suggested we study the remedy Stramonium 30C. I read about the remedy and saw his symptoms in the description. I gave it to him that day.
There was an immediate change. He went to his bed and slept soundly for the first time in weeks. No crying, no jerking or twitching. I felt that being able to rest was an important key to healing his brain. He improved rapidly. Within a day he went outside and found his way back. Soon he found his way to the door from anywhere in the yard. He no longer stood in corners or fell down the steps. He again recognized his eye-drop routine, getting excited for the treat after the drops. He is now letting me know again when he wants his meal. And, he has resumed barking at the door to be let outside and is no longer peeing in the house.
Two months after his first dose of Stramonium we gave him a second dose, just when he began to have difficulty with sleeping and barking at night. Immediately he was able to sleep all night again. Our friends are amazed at the positive changes in his behavior. We are so thrilled at this miracle that gave us our Dimmie back.
