Actium’s Lipoma, & Homeopathy

Homeopathy works brilliantly for human health problems. Did you know it works just at well for animals?

The disappearing lipoma of Actium the budgerigar is just one example.  Take a look at his story and photographs – you’ll be amazed at what happened.

Actium’s Story

Essentially, Actium had a lump. Those who keep birds (especially budgerigars) know they are prone to fatty tumours called lipomas, particularly when fed a seed-only diet. Because the bird’s feathers hide the tumours, it can take a while before the owner realises that their pet isn’t just becoming plump: rather, something is actually growing. This is exactly what happened to Actium: when I saw the tumour poking through his feathers, it was already at an advanced stage!

I dutifully brought Actium to a vet, who had both good and bad news. The tumour was not causing him any pain. However, it would continue to grow, and even though the vet could operate, Actium had slim chances of survival. He would likely either bleed to death (budgies have very little blood), or die from the effects of the anaesthetic. On top of this, surgery would cost hundreds of dollars.

The irony of spending $300 or more to operate on a $20 budgie was not lost on my family, but Actium was a much-loved companion. Having him ‘put to sleep’ just didn’t seem like an option.

So, I decided to see how much homeopathy could help.

Collecting His Symptoms

Case taking: Actium’s problem was obvious: a pale, walnut-sized lump protruding from his chest, making it difficult for him to eat or drink. But if I was to treat this pale lump, more information would be needed.

Treating animals with homeopathy is no different to treating humans – the remedy has to match their physical and mental/emotional symptoms. More than twenty homeopathic remedies had the potential to treat lipomas like Actium’s, so I had to narrow the field. More symptoms were needed.

I would normally describe Actium as a hyperactive, happy little bird who liked to mimic words and dance to Willy Nelson songs. But my family had always said it was a good thing he was only a budgie; if he were any larger, we would have lost our fingers years ago. He was prone to sudden rages where he’d shriek, scold loudly, and then bite.

These symptoms pointed squarely to the homeopathic remedy Belladonna – a remedy known for treating sudden, violent rages in which a child (or adult!) can scream and bite with their anger. It was also one of the listed remedies for treating lipomas.

Treating the Tumour

The family gathered to give Actium his first dose, and the results were startling. Overnight, the pale-pink lump discoloured to a purple-pink. Two days later, it started to smell. After five days, it was obviously rotting and shrivelling in size. Actium didn’t seem to mind, though; he was thriving on the extra attention and seemed to enjoy taking his remedy – just a single drop from the end of a dropper for each dose.

It took two weeks before I decided to pronounce the lipoma as ‘dead’. It had shrivelled in size and was now a nuggety brown colour. During this time I’d changed his remedy from Belladonna to a complementary homeopathic remedy called Calcarea carbonica (Calc-c) as indicated by his changing symptoms. Finally,when the Calc-c had run its course a month later, I retook his case and prescribed homeopathic Silicea.

Those familiar with homeopathy may know Silica as the ‘homeopathic scalpel’. It is famous for, among other things, expelling foreign bodies from the skin. Deep-seated thorns, splinters, and shards of glass can often pop from the skin with a few doses of Silica.

As the lump was obviously dead but still sitting on Actium’s chest wall I decided that a few doses of Silica would probably help him to shed it.

Over the following days, the lipoma began to separate from his skin and eventually was only hanging by a little stalk of flesh. Like a plane carrying a bomb, Actium would fly around the house with the dead tumor dangling under his body.

And then came the morning when I woke up to find the lump in the bottom of his cage. It had shrivelled in size during the previous weeks from a walnut to a large marble, and though its colour was now a mottled brown rather than pale pink, it still had a tiny feather attached to it. Actium’s treatment had been a success.

Progress in Pictures

To show the progression of Actium’s treatment, I’ve gathered some photographs. The first two were taken by my son and are obviously blurred – we had no idea that one day we would be placing them on the internet. The third photograph shows the separated lump with its little feather. The final one shows a groove in the feathers on Actium’s chest – the only reminder of the lipoma that once grew there. As for Actium, he’s now a healthy, happy bird – something that was achieved with zero risk and for far less money than the alternative. My family was very happy.

— Fran Sheffield

The lump.

Actium cured!