Arran, the Bird‑Dog

A 5‑year‑old entire male Border Collie with a radiographically confirmed diagnosis of arthritis in the thoracic spine and pelvis was presented to my practice on 25 March 2008. The pain in the pelvis caused him considerable discomfort, which was particularly evident on palpation; he also had difficulty getting up.
In the consultation room he was lively and nervous and reacted to the slightest movements and noises. He approached me, received a light tap and ran back to his owner, licked her hand, pressed himself anxiously against her, scrabbled at her leg and hid behind her.

He was fearful, trembling during the examination and sought protection from his owner. A very observant dog: “He is very alert and notices everything around him immediately – he has a kind of 360‑degree awareness.”

His owners chose him from the litter because they noticed he was constantly off exploring his surroundings on his own, “even though he wasn’t an outsider.” He would climb up somewhere and tumble back down. He is very intelligent. He does not immediately warm to visitors, but after a while he approaches them cautiously. Even if someone is desperate to be loved by him, he cannot be forced: “He hates being smothered with kisses.” He has always been a little nervous, so there are often problems with children because they romp about and jostle him; “then he slips away.” He loves walks, especially on the beach, and prefers open country such as moorland to woods.
He is hypersensitive to emotions. If someone cries, he comes, puts his head on their knee and becomes very calm. If people laugh, he brings his toy and wants to join in. If someone raises their voice, he ducks down and does not move. He waits until he knows what is wanted of him, and then he does it.

He is very obedient and likes being trained, but he hates the lead. In the car he drools and slobbers quite a lot because he pants so heavily. Winding roads upset him “because they remind him of walks and fun”, but on the motorway he lies down and sleeps. His favourite game is jumping up high and catching things. When his back is painful he becomes even more nervous, will not allow himself to be touched and wants to be left alone. The physiotherapist says his muscles are very tense, especially in the neck.
He hates bathing. He detests being cornered in any way; then he ducks down and tries to get away, but in a defensive rather than aggressive manner. He would never chase sheep. Once, however, when another dog chased some sheep, Arran ran off, overtook the other dog and brought the sheep back, “because he knew I was worried, he intuitively fulfilled my wish.”
He is not a ‘top‑or‑bottom’ dog; hierarchy interests him little. He will, however, defend himself if attacked. He does not need much sex. But he is quite jealous, and when his mistress pays attention to another dog he becomes a “disgusting slobberer”. He pushes himself between his owner and her partner when they are cuddling. He behaves even worse when his mistress is with him at the physiotherapist, “because he feels he must protect me.”

He cannot see into the future. He reacts sensitively to changes in the atmosphere; they make him sneeze. When unfamiliar visitors arrive he barks wildly until he is told to stop; then he disappears into his basket. If the visitor is a friend he is delighted and wants to play with them.

Analysis

Remember: it is important to pay attention to the exact words of the owner.
Several themes run through this case:

1: Tubercular energy – aversion to being cuddled, feeling cornered, dislike of the lead; preference for open country, winding roads make him nervous, exploring his environment and climbing about as a young puppy.

2: Empathy – in the sense of sensitivity and understanding of others’ feelings. This differs from sympathy, which does not necessarily equate to such understanding and clairvoyance; it means knowing, but not necessarily compassion. Snakes are clairvoyant, spiders possess a great sensitivity to the feelings of others but cannot understand them, and mammals have compassion and the ability to comfort.

3: Watchfulness
The kingdom here is not as obvious as in other cases, but the alertness and ‘aliveness’ suggest an animal remedy, although some plants (e.g. Solanaceae) and mineral remedies (e.g. phosphorus compounds) can appear similar. It was more by intuition that I chose an animal remedy in this case, although hierarchy does not play a role here.

The high degree of empathy and compassion points to a mammal or bird remedy, the tubercular element to a bird, spider or insect remedy. The trembling and extreme watchfulness could indicate a bird remedy – it resembles the feeling of holding a small bird in the hand. 360‑degree attention suggests a bird or insect remedy. I thought of a bird remedy within the first ten minutes of the consultation, which was confirmed by Arran’s fears.

“He is alert to noise, but not especially distressed by it and he has no excessive fear of fireworks and thunder. In the mornings when the dawn noises begin he is nervous, even in the house; he startles at the calls of pheasants – becomes nervous, pants, rolls his eyes and nestles against me; nonetheless he would chase the pheasants if I let him out in the morning.”

After this statement I only had to decide which bird was relevant. A search of the materia medica showed that Ovi gallinae pellicula (eggshell membrane) has a strong affinity for the lumbosacral region and shows worsening from overexertion.
The difficulty in veterinary homeopathy is that you cannot take the animal verbally to level 5 (the sensation or source level) as you do with human patients, who can tell you quite precisely which kind of bird they need! Chicken did not seem ideal to me because hierarchy is very important for chickens – the ‘pecking order’. Arran’s extreme ‘Carcinosinum‑like’ submissiveness could, however, point to a domesticated bird. Pheasant might be considered, but in my experience pheasants are not notably intelligent!

Prescription: Ovi gallinae Pellicula C200, two doses on 28 March 2008.

Follow‑up

One month later: The day after the remedy was given his lameness and discomfort became considerably worse. He could hardly move, was restless and would not allow anyone to touch him for 24 hours. Then, for three days, he reacted three times as strongly to the pheasants’ calls and the sounds of dawn: “As soon as nature awoke in the morning he became restless and ran up the stairs to come to me.” You could feel his nervousness in his chest when you touched him.

Birds in Homeopathy

General animal themes:
Survival, being a nose ahead, jealousy, selfishness, competition, dirty, feeling inferior, attack and defence.
It is said that the animal themes in birds are not as obvious as in other families, but I cannot share this observation.

Bird themes

• Independent and free, but at the same time connected – as the homeopath should be impartial and objective, yet connected with the patient.
• Intuition / intuitive knowledge
• Dazed, stupefied, disoriented, out of oneself, not fully present
• Spiritual and searching for spirituality
• Empathy + / - family awareness – often in healing professions
• Group or family relationships, depending on whether it lives in a clan or is solitary
• Responsibility and freedom
• Imprisoned
• Mountains and sea
• Freedom, travel, + / - demanding, cosmopolitan
• Pride, without being arrogant
• Wants to do everything right – but is not a perfectionist – protection, care, mother
• Claustrophobia
• Sensitivity
• Empathy
• Apathetic, cold, distant

Words

Caught, flee, hunt, fly, ascend, hover, high, heavy, make sudden turns, surprise attack from a clear sky, prey, tear apart, violence, murder, merry, can swim, travel, broaden horizons, separated, focus, speed, stoop, choke, talons, blood, torture, flock, power, heavy, light, suffocation, sight/sharp/clear/far/distinct, imprisoned, cornered, oppressed, free, free spirit, free fall, empathy, flight, clarity, direction, mission, balance, swiftness, horizon.

Categories: Cases
Keywords: does not like being stroked, prefers open country, empathy, alertness, arthritis, stiffness in the pelvis
Remedy: Ovi gallinae pellicula (eggshell membrane)