About two months ago we were surprised to find a nickel size open wound on our cat's upper neck. It looked raw and nasty. We remembered that we had felt small scabs in that spot earlier. The holistic vet said to put some coconut oil on the wound for a few days and see. It didn't improve, so I took the cat to the regular vet. He prescribed an antibiotic, a cat collar and antibiotic ointment. The cat collar was a disaster for our poor cat; she hit herself everywhere, couldn't reach her bowl and eat properly and became dejected after two days. The collar came off, and the holistic vet paid a house visit for laser treatments on the wound, reiki and acupuncture. The wound was still the same, but our cat ate well again and became her usual self, although she diligently kept scratching the wound open and licked off the antibiotic ointment as best as she could.
I am no longer impressed by the Western healing model. It is useful, and even lifesaving in many instances, but powerless in many others. Often therefore, either a combination of Western and alternative methods, or an alternative approach altogether, work better. But finding the appropriate treatment method can be like navigating a dark hallway at night and tapping the wall to try to locate the light switch.
I decided it was time to speak to the cat directly to get her take on the situation - unlike humans, animals are amazingly aware of their own condition. We contacted our local animal whisperer, whose help we had previously enlisted (see earlier blog post). It seems that the broad spectrum antibiotic did not eradicate the particular bacterium that lodged under the cat's skin after a simple scratch wound and affected her nerves. This made the wound feel deeply itchy and hot. The cat communicator recommended mixing three homeopathic remedies, one in particular for nerve damage, in water and dripping a drop several times daily on the wound. The results were still not convincing because our poor cat still scratched when the cold water drop hit the wound, and after another two weeks I heeded our holistic vet's further recommendation to try Noni lotion, made from the Hawaiian Noni fruit, which is antibacterial, full of healing antioxidants, and inoffensive when licked and ingested. Finally, success! It has been a long and very winding road, but the wound is almost healed. In the end we will never know what caused the turnaround, whether any one remedy did the job, a combination of several, and whether our persistent intent played a role.