Canine Case Study

On the 14th of November, Bonnie was playing with her doggie friend and accidentally slipped over on a pile of wet leaves. She was running at high speed, causing her to hit the ground extremely hard. As she was full of adrenaline, she acted like everything was fine. It wasn’t until she got home that she showed the real extent of her injuries. 

She began coughing and retching on and off for about an hour, presumable due to whiplash when she fell. She was also frantically licking her legs, stomach and groin area. She had some very minor grazes on her back legs and a large wound on the inside of her right hind leg, near her stifle/groin area. I immediately washed the wound with aloe vera vet spray, attempted to trim some of the long fur around the wound to get a better look, and sprinkled it with some green clay. I then offered her a range of aromatics, from which she chose Wintergreen (Gaultheria fragrantissima wall), Arnica (Arnica montana) CO2 extract, St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) CO2 extract, Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) macerate, Carrot seed (Daucus carota) and Neroli (Citrus aurantium) essential oil. For the first 3 days after the incident she had a couple of episodes of incontinence mainly urinary, and one faecal incident. She was also given homoeopathic support in the form of Arica 200c and Hyp/cal 30c.

Life History 

Bonnie is a 6-year-old Saluki x Greyhound x Terrier x Whippet. I adopted Bonnie from the RSPCA when she was approx. 6 months old, she was rescued from a backyard breeder where she and her brother were living in an outside cage, exposed to the elements. She was extremely nervous and had very little experience with the outside world or people. She showed signs of extreme separation anxiety to me almost immediately after coming home. She has a history of bad reactions to her puppy vaccines and has had multiple surgeries due to her spay operation going wrong and her spleen being damaged during the initial operation. She was on prolonged antibiotics due to her not healing well after 5 surgeries and developing a recurring Staph infection. Later on, she began to show signs of inflammatory reactions throughout her body and recurring fungal skin infections, Neomi David is supporting her long term, with a herbal tincture and has made great improvements.

Meridian Imbalances

Bonnie’s MBA on the 20th of November 2024, showed imbalances of her Governing vessel, Bladder, Kidney and Lung meridians, with her out-of-balance Governing Vessel meridian being the priority. The Governing vessel meridian relates to the back and hind quarters and a general feeling of weakness. Therefore, my healing intention was to choose aromatics that would support the rebalance of her Governing vessel meridian, reduce pain and inflammation, relax her nervous system from the shock of the accident and support her slow-healing wound.

Aromatics For Selection

• Wintergreen (Gaultheria fragrantissima wall) essential oil in Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) macerate oil (4 drops in 10mls) - Wintergreen is a potent inflammatory, helping to relieve muscular and nerve pain, due to it containing methyl salicylate. Comfrey helps heal soft tissue damage, due to the presence of allantoin which stimulates cell proliferation and accelerates healing both internally and externally. 
• Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) essential oil in Comfrey macerate oil (3 drops in 10mls) - Manuka is beneficial for animals who are rundown, especially if they have wounds, cuts, abrasions or muscular pain and tends to be anxious. 
• Lavender (Lavandula officinalis) essential oil in Lavender macerate oil (5 drops in 10mls) - Lavender will help to rebalance her Governing vessel meridian and get her Qi flowing properly again. It is also supportive for animals who have a strong need for connection, as well as being a potent healer for wounds and proud flesh.

Topical included:

• 15 grams of Shea (Butyrospermum Parkii) Butter
• 15ml of Comfrey Macerate 
• ½ tsp of Wheat germ (Triticum Vulgare Aestivum) oil
• 3 drops Manuka essential oil 
• 3 drops Lavender essential oil 
• 30ml Cistus (Cistus ladaniferus) hydrosol 
• 5 grams of Green Clay 
• 20 grams of Kaolin Clay

Nutrition and Management Suggestions

Bonnie’s diet was good and did not need any changes made, however, I did offer her Lamb/Goat bone broth to support collagen production for her skin health and boost her immune system.

Bonnie's Response

Bonnie showed a keen inhalation and oral interest in all of the MBA aromatics offered. After a couple of days, her interest in ingesting the lavender stopped, but she was still ingesting the Wintergreen and Manuka. After a week she had stopped ingesting the Manuka and was only inhaling the Lavender and Manuka. She was still ingesting the Wintergreen but the amount she consumed had reduced considerably. She soon lost interest in the Lavender and Manuka altogether and her interest in the Wintergreen had reduced to a moderate inhalation/ingestion interest. Throughout this time she showed a very keen interest in ingesting her topical blend daily, which I will continue offering and applying until she stops selecting it, to help the scar tissue you reduce. 

Final Outcome