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A publication of the World Wide Essence Society |
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 by Nancy Thomas, from an email she sent this magazine.
Mister Orange (my cat) had been prescribed antibiotics for a wound that had gotten infected. The only way I could dose him was by mixing the medicine with his food, since he fought me too hard if I tried to give it to him straight. This procedure was okay for a day or two but then he started choking on his food; he couldn't swallow it. Apparently he was having some kind of allergic reaction to the medicine in his food and it was causing him to choke while eating. The choking frightened him and he would meow loudly (as if he were exclaiming), hiss at his food, and run away and hide under the bed. When I realized what was happening, I took him off the antibiotics, but....he continued to choke on his food, and display the same behavior pattern, even though the antibiotics were no longer in his food. I could see that he had gotten the choking associated in his head with the food and was now afraid to eat.
  So I discovered the Bach flower essences on your web site. Because the phobia
was caused by a trauma, I decided to try Star of Bethlehem. Because of his
problem, I didn't want to mix the essence with his food, so I squeezed a
couple of drops on my finger and rubbed it on the inside of both of his ears,
like perfume. During this, he would look up at me with a light in his eyes and
a grateful expression on his face, as if he knew what the flower essences
were. I tried to give him the essence several times a day.During this time, I also used behavior modification with him, which I thought would be a good idea while using the essences. I tried to remove him from the things in his environment which were upsetting him. First I found him a cat food containing ingredients that he had never eaten before (so that the flavor wouldn't remind him of the food he was eating when he choked). It turned out to be a "natural" cat food - lamb and rice with herbs and vegetables. But he still exhibited the same fearful behavior. So I figured that he had the choking associated with the location. as well the food. I then started feeding him the new cat food in a different room. Even then he still got nervous, so it appeared that he not only had the choking associated with the food and location, but also with the act of eating! I found that in order to get him to eat anything at all, I had to stay with him while he ate, stroking him and talking to him and telling him he was doing just fine.
During this time, I had been giving him the Star of Bethlehem, but it didn't
look like it was helping. I reread the article I had found on your site and
decided that perhaps he needed Mimulus, since the food was something known.
The minulus didn't change anything. Then it occurred to me that, even though
food was something known, Mister Orange's fear was still irrational, since he
was afraid of the wrong thing. So then I tried Aspen and that is when things
started to change for him. He settled down and his nervousness started to
diminish. After a while, I found I could leave him alone while he ate,
although he was still eating the new food in the new location.After a few weeks of giving him Aspen I started to forget to give it to him. When I realized this, it occurred to me that he must have somehow let me know that he didn't need it any more.
Mister Orange has now completely overcome his phobia. He now eats both his new
cat food and the cat food he was previously eating. He also eats in the
previous location once more. I haven't seen any fearful behavior from him
while eating for quite a while now, and don't expect to again.Because of this success with Mister Orange I decided to look into the flower essences for myself. At the health food store where I bought the essences, I bought a little booklet about the Bach flower essences and decided to try clematis, since I tend to be off on Cloud 9 too much of the time. After a few weeks I noticed that I was not putting off doing housework any more, even in the evening after working all day. Now, how much more grounded could you get than by cleaning? Contact with Mother Earth! :)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nancy Thomas lives in Arizona, and works in a commercial real estate office as a word processor. She has two inside cats and takes care of several neighborhood strays. Together, they Web-surf, walk for exercise and do creative writing. DESIGN CREDITS: The wonderful orange kitty is by Lisa, of Set City.
The World Wide Essence Society does not mean to imply any recommendation of nor give certification to any individuals or companies above. This article is provided purely for informational purposes. We ask consumers to make their own determination as to quality of the services and products offered above. This article is not meant to be advice, and the information is not meant to replace medical or psychological treatment.  previous page top next page
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