excerpt from:
"Recurrent Cystitis: A Case of Veterinary Heilkunst"
Patty Lynn Smith
Heilkunst 1.1, June 1999Max (not his real name) is a massive furball, with huge paws and totally gorgeous. If he isn’t a purebred Maine Coon cat, he has a high percentage of it in his genes!
His "parents" first came to me in late winter 1997. Their children had been treated with the sequential approach with good results, and when Max was in medical crisis they decided they would like to work with him in this way too. He had just been through a traumatic treatment at the local vet’s, where he was being treated for a blocked bladder.
While under treatment at the vet’s, he was given IV fluids, and his medication was injected into the IV. As a result he developed some problem with his eyes, which then had to be treated with antibiotics drops in his eyes (a common side effect, they were told, of the drugs). He was prescribed steroids, antibiotics, and was on a low dose of Arnica and Apis (when the "parents" relayed my suggestion to the vet) as well as Berberis.
Max had been catheterized to help drain his bladder. After a few days the symptoms seemed to subside, and since there were no crystals in his urine they withdrew the catheter. However, he appeared to have trouble urinating, so they decided to reinsert the catheter. But apparently when the catheter was withdrawn he had so much swelling internally that he blocked again. They tried to reinsert it a few times, and it was difficult but finally accomplished. He had not been given any Arnica at that point to help deal with the shock or the trauma of the procedure. Rather than prescribe Apis to help reduce the swelling, and Arnica for the shock, they prescribed surgery.
Max’s "parents" were faced with a difficult decision. Euthanasia was out of the question for them. They were told that if his entire penis was amputated the problem would be solved, since the opening of the urethra is larger at the base of the penis, and would have less chance of becoming irritated to the point where the flow of urine was impeded. That was the only other option with which they were presented...