Education: Arnica

Testimonial on Arnica and Surgery

Dear Colleen,

Thank you for the inserts for my Pig First Aid Kit. You said in your letter that you hoped I'd never have to use it. Well...

I was the person who asked about calming an unspayed female potbelly pig. You said there was nothing that would help ~ it was the hormones.

Well, poor Mona was very obese ~ she was dumped at the SPCA ~ blind from the fat rolls. Her sight was back and she'd lost some weight, but I decided to risk the spay, even with the veet's trepidation. She was just too big and dangerous when cycling.

The vet is really super. He let me watch the surgery. Well, it went okay, and he did warn me that she would bleed after and not to be alarmed, just wrap her belly.

When she came 'round, she was lying on her side, kicking and thrashing. He said she was in pain and gave her a shot, so she was quiet during the two hour ride home. But, at home, the pain started up again, and I thought of the kit.

Having watched the surgery, I knew how she'd been pulled around, and I remember how bruised Id' been after my hysterectomy. I selected Arnica, but she wouldn't take it. She was panting and hoo-hooing at me, as if to say, "Look what you did!"

So I took a little piece of cucumber and pushed in the Arnica. After 20 minutes she was lying down, but still panting. I gave her a second dose and 20 minutes later she was asleep and slept all night.

The next morning, she'd let herself out of the pet door and was outside, calmly grazing. I checked her bedding ... not a speck of blood. I thought it might be pooling inside as the vet had repeated that she would bleed. This has been the fourth pig I've had spayed, so I had no reason to doubt him.

She let me check the wound, and it was lat and cool, and it stayed that way! She has made a perfectly, uneventful recovery and is in even keel with her normally sweet temperment intact. All thanks to Arnica!

So, THANKS! If you want to quote this, feel free, or if any sceptic wants to contact me, that's okay, too.

Regards,

Anita Berg, Delaware Water Gap, PA 6/17/99