Dr. Jens Wurster, a physician who works in the homeopathic hospital in Santa Croce, Switzerland, discusses the homeopathic treatment of cancer in animals and offers some case studies.
Translated by Katja Schütt and Alan Schmukler
To find a homeopathic remedy, all peculiarities and striking symptoms are to be elaborated. Therefore, a meticulous questioning of the pet owner is of utmost importance. In homeopathy the peculiar and striking symptoms have to be worked out, followed by the mind symptoms (fears, character traits etc.) and physical general symptoms like eating preferences, digestion, temperature, behavior.
Local signs on the skin, or other local ailments are usually not much considered to find a deep acting remedy. But this is different in cancer patients, as the local signs of the tumor, its location, color, or texture can help in finding the remedy.
Moreover, the homeopath has to look for the reason for the development of cancer, which might have appeared after injuries, after sterilization, after vaccinations or suppressed skin eruptions, which weakens the immune system and makes the organism susceptible to malignant diseases.
It can be difficult to find mental symptoms of animals, as they can’t tell their symptoms by themselves. But fortunately, their owners can often describe them in detail, as if the animal were talking themselves.
Below I’m going to describe three cases, to demonstrate my positive experiences in the homeopathic treatment of cancer in animals.
Case 1: A Pekingese Mongrel With Breast Cancer
My wife’s sister took a very pitiable dog from the animal shelter. It was a Pekingese mongrel which was already almost 10 years old and had a tumor the size of a plum at the mammary gland. Nobody wanted to have this animal, but she immediately took it to her heart. To get the animal she had to agree that the dog’s tumor would be operated on immediately.
Full of joy about the animal she asked me for a remedy. I didn’t really know what to do, but examined the dog and felt a hard, not movable tumor at the mammary gland, which is very characteristic for Conium. I prescribed Conium 200C.
After some time the tumor got somewhat smaller and was moveable. The tumor was now hanging down like a ball. It was still hard, but globated and hanging and dragging on the floor in a sack of skin. As it was moveable, it didn’t seem to have any vascularization anymore.
Then a small cut was made to remove the tumor and the dog was cured. He still lived three further years and died from infirmity.
Case 2: A Dog With Melanoma
Another impressive case concerns the treatment of a bitch ill with advanced melanoma. Her female pet owner was ill with MALT-lymphoma and already treated for some time. She asked me for a remedy for her dog.
The woman sadly told me that the dog was dying. She had a malignant melanoma on her hind leg which was already operated on three years ago, but relapsed and may have built metastases already. The dog could hardly walk and was lying apathetically. She had hardly eaten anything for two weeks. The veterinarian had told her that nothing could be done and that the dog had to be euthanized.
Although I had treated some animals, I’m wast specialized in the homeopathic treatment of dogs. Nevertheless I started to collect the symptoms in detail. The dog had always been a cheerful animal and used to bark boldly. She used to eat everything, especially meat and was always funny. He seemed to be a typical dog to me without any specific hints for a remedy. That is to say, I didn’t know which remedy to prescribe. But as I’ve had good expereinces with Sulphur in cases of melanoma, I asked some leading questions to confirm the remedy, a practice we actually avoid in homeopathic case-taking.
Asked about cleanliness, the owner told me that the dog enjoyed rolling in the mud. This seemed to confirm Sulphur. But Lachesis is another frequently indicated remedy in cases of melanoma. The dog finally received Sulphur in Q potency (LM) as his mental symptoms and eating preferences also pointed to Sulphur.
Let me relate the nice conversation I had when the owner called me after a fortnight: When asking how she felt she replied:
“I’m feeling as well as the dog.“
I answered with a low voice: “Oh, I’m sorry, do you also feel worse again ?“
“Why worse, she said, “I feel well like my dog.!“
“Yes, that‘s why I’m asking.“
“No, I do not feel bad, I’m fine.“
“What do you mean?“
“Yes, the dog is fit again. She is taking her remedy daily and after three days she was already much brighter and running around in the garden, and is very cheerful again. She is barking and hopping around. She is already 14 years old but I’ve never seen her like this. Also our neighbor noticed it and asked me what happened to the dog, and said it was a miracle. I told him that she is taking a homeopathic remedy. He also wanted to get the remedy as he felt quite weak. I told him that the remedy has to be chosen individually according to the symptoms. Then he left angrily because he thought I didn’t want to tell him the name of the remedy.“
After a month of taking Sulphur in increasing Q potencies the melanoma got smaller and its size reduced from 3cm to 1cm. The dog was cheerful and running around. The melanoma disappeared completely after two months, when the dog, who always took his remedy daily, started to refuse to take the medicine. He now runs away when seeing the remedy bottle. Animals have an inherent instinct and seem to know when the remedy is not indicated. The dog remained in good health and did not show any symptoms of melanoma anymore.
It is important to understand the connections that lead to the development of the tumor and to know that cancer is a disease that comes at the end of a long history of diseases. Thats why the chronic homeopathic treatment of patients is important, as it prevents and treats suppressions and vaccination ailments to prevent the development of cancer.
This article was first published in Tierhomöopathie, Themenheft 2009/Krebs.