Symptoms V Cause

Today I'm going to blog about my beautiful cat, Poppy. A little off track you may think but hopefully all will become clear.

Poppys not been well for the last month; she's lacking vitality, her coats not as shiny, she's losing hair from her tummy and her eyes are full of gunk. Altogether not good.

So I took her to my local vets. She's fourteen ,so no spring chicken, but up until now has had nothing wrong with her. The vet examined her, concentrating on the areas I've just described and within minutes she diagnosed possible fleas (hence hair coming out) and possible reduction in the functioning of her tear ducts (hence gunky eyes). So I came away with some eye drops and some flea repellent.

Whilst I do try to keep an open mind on the conventional medicine approach, and appreciate that doctors and vets in this area serve a purpose I couldn't help but think that in this instance the vet was missing something.

She focussed entirely on the symptoms which Poppy had presented with, and that I'd described ,but what about the cause? And I do believe there is an underlying cause. I know my cat and sense that something is out of kilter big time. But,who am I to question a vet who has spent lots of years studying animals and their ailments?

I pondered over it for a few days and didn't actually use the drops or repellent but made an appointment with a holistic vet. I'm very lucky to have a practice down the road from my house.

We went today. The vet, another she, didn't even look at Poppy for twenty minutes but asked me questions about her history, her drinking, eating, sleeping, living habits and patterns, her behaviour and then looked at Poppy and her symptoms. After further probing questions, some of them a little off the wall - like does she have a cat friend(?) the vet diagnosed hormonal problems which basically are throwing her body out of balance and producing these symptoms.


Sounds likley to me, so I came away with some homeopathy to put in her mouth twice a day, and if this doesn't help I have to return in ten days. I'm happy with this, feel like the whole of Poppy was looked at and not just the parts that appear to be malfunctioning.

Homeopathy is not addictive, there are no dangerous side effects, it treats the whole person/animal and tackles the cause of the illness rather than supressing the symptoms.

I use homeopathy on my kids, Belladonna is great for bringing down fevers, which I believe is a better option than Calpol as their little livers don't have any chemicals to detox, and it's just a far more natural, holistic way to do things. Pulsatilla is also useful if they are starting to show general signs of being a little bit off balance, and arnica is great when they have a bump or a fall (it's a great distraction too, and can stop tears in an instant).There are many, many more remedies -I have a homeopathic first aid box at home and its very easy to use.




We also swear by a natural product called Sambucol for when they start to develop colds. Its main ingredient is propolis which is full of antioxidants, great for the immune system and can stop a cold in its tracks.

Propolis was originally recommended to me by my Japanese acupuncturist, who has never used conventional medicine in her life. It is a natural substance collected by honey bees from buds and trees.

Today's Tip : Each to their own, but please do your research - and if not use your gut instinct, it's mostly always right!