Lac caninum

Lac caninum is the milk of a healthy, lactating female dog. Though originally used in folk traditions as an antidote to rabies, it gained prominence in homeopathy through the provings and clinical experiences of Dr. Caroline B. Hastings and later confirmation by Dr. Laura Morgan and Dr. James Kent. The remedy acts powerfully on the nervous system, throat, and female reproductive organs, with alternating symptoms and a sense of disconnection or unreality forming its key themes.

First proved by Dr. C. B. Hastings in 1870s, later confirmed by Kent and others through clinical use and broader provings

Lac caninum expresses a core experience of duality, dissociation, and shifting identity. The patient often feels unclean, degraded, or “less than human”, sometimes due to emotional or physical trauma. Symptoms alternate in location and intensity. There is a strong conflict between instincts and morality, control and surrender, self-worth and self-contempt. The remedy resonates with women who feel diminished by past wounds, carrying a heavy psychological imprint into the physical realm.

• Throat – intense pain, inflammation, and ulceration
• Nervous system – extreme hypersensitivity, hysteria, alternating neuralgias
• Female reproductive system – mastitis, menstrual disturbances, prolapse
• Mind and emotions – self-loathing, feeling of unreality, alternating moods
• Mucous membranes – inflammation with offensive discharges
• Spine – neck and lumbar region, stiffness and pain
• Left and right side alternation – symptoms often switch sides

The mental picture of Lac caninum is deeply marked by alternation, disconnection, and self-contempt. There is often a profound sense of duality or unreality, with patients feeling they are “outside their body” or watching themselves from a distance [Kent]. Hallucinations and distorted perceptions are common. The patient may think parts of their body are swollen or that they are smaller than they really are. There is a strong feeling of worthlessness, especially in women, who may feel degraded or impure. Emotional symptoms alternate rapidly—laughing then crying, confidence followed by self-disgust. Forgetfulness is prominent; thoughts vanish while speaking. In women with histories of abuse or trauma, Lac caninum often plays a curative role. Great suspicion, jealousy, and aversion to loved ones may emerge. Patients may believe they are despised by others, even by their own children. Night terrors and fears of insanity are frequent.

Disturbed, with vivid dreams and night terrors. Waking with fear, anxiety, or choking. Feels unrefreshed. Jerking during sleep. Dreams of snakes, flying, or being watched.

Frightening, surreal, often alternating between horror and bliss. Dreams of degradation, disgrace, or emotional vulnerability. Recurrent dreams of being attacked or unable to scream. Flying or floating is common.

Alternating symptoms are a hallmark—left to right, or day to day. Oversensitivity to noise, smell, and touch. Weakness with trembling. Aggravation from suppressed menses or emotions. Symptoms often follow trauma, especially emotional or sexual. Suited to sensitive, refined, self-critical women. Worse before and during menses.

Chill alternates with heat, especially in the evening. Hot flushes with trembling. Perspiration cold or clammy. Fever with delirium or hallucinations. Fever may change character or side.

Chilliness down back or between shoulder blades. Heat in face or palms. Sweat offensive or soaking, often only on one side. Sweating relieves headache or mental dullness.

Headache with alternating sides or shooting from back to front. Pressing or bursting pain, sometimes with vertigo. Scalp sensitive to touch or combing. Head feels too large or too light. Pain often begins on waking and worsens as the day progresses. Headaches associated with menses or eye strain. Hair may fall out in patches, especially after grief or illness.

Photophobia, with sensation as though eyes are bulging. Pain behind eyes, shifting from side to side. Vision blurred or foggy, alternating with sharpness. Illusions of movement or light flashes. Pain may extend from eye to temple or throat. Black spots or flickering before eyes, particularly during menses or hysteria.

Pain, throbbing, or ringing in one ear, often alternating to the other. Sensation of fullness or pressure. Sensitivity to sound; slightest noise startles or irritates. Hearing diminished, or paradoxically, acute. Discharges thin, offensive, and excoriating. Itching deep in ears, worse at night.

Fluent coryza alternating sides. Discharges are thin, watery, and burning. Loss of smell with dullness of mind. Sneezing frequent, often violent. Nasal bones sore to touch. Ulceration and bleeding from nose. Smell of decay or blood may linger.

Pale, drawn, with a look of emotional exhaustion. Flushing alternates with pallor. Neuralgic pains in cheeks, often alternating sides. Lips dry, cracked, and burning. Facial twitching in hysterical subjects. Expression often anxious or depressed.

Sensation of hair or threads on tongue. Tongue red, dry, cracked, or swollen. Taste altered—bitter, metallic, or putrid. Mouth dry despite thirst. Saliva thick and sticky. Speech may be hurried, disjointed, or slow and confused. Gums sore or bleeding easily.

Painful, sensitive to cold air or warm drinks. Toothache may switch sides. Teeth feel loose or elongated. Pain extends to ears or temples. Worse during menses or after exposure to cold.

This is a key region for Lac caninum. Excruciating pain, as if swallowing broken glass, or a plug stuck in the throat. Pain alternates sides, often changing with sleep [Boericke]. Ulcers may be deep, purplish, and offensive. The throat is dry, with constant desire to swallow. Pharyngitis and tonsillitis with fetid breath and mucus that’s difficult to expel. Swallowing liquids is often more painful than solids. Voice hoarse or lost.

Soreness, burning, or constriction. Breast pain alternating sides. Difficulty breathing from tight clothing. Oppression worse lying down. Cough dry, hacking, and exhausting. Stitching pains, especially under the clavicles or shifting between breasts.

Palpitations with anxiety, especially at night. Feeling as if the heart stops and starts. Irregular, skipping beats. Pain may shoot to arms or throat. Weak pulse in hysterical states. Coldness and numbness of chest.

Shortness of breath with sighing. Constriction of chest or throat. Feels smothered in warm rooms. Hysterical dyspnoea. Breathing shallow and rapid during anxiety attacks.

Nausea and vomiting, especially from emotional upset. Appetite variable—alternates between ravenous hunger and complete aversion. Craving for salt, cold milk, or indigestible things. Heartburn and sour belching. Pain shifts from stomach to throat or back. Symptoms worse from eating fatty foods or on waking.

Bloating, flatulence, and rumbling. Sharp or colicky pains, especially before or during menses. Sensation of a ball rolling in the abdomen. Pain alternates sides or shifts to the back. Constipation alternating with diarrhoea. Cramping may be relieved by pressure.

Irritation, itching, or burning. Diarrhoea offensive, sudden, and involuntary. Stools thin and watery or mucous-laden. Constipation with ineffectual urging. Haemorrhoids bleeding, sore, and alternating in intensity. Anal region may feel swollen or prolapsed.

Frequent urging, with burning and pain. Urine passes in drops or spurts. Incontinence during coughing or laughing. Offensive odour. Cloudy or bloody urine. Pain may alternate from kidney to bladder. Bladder feels distended even after urination.

Craves salt, sour things, or cold milk. Aversion to meat, warm food, or bread. Nausea from smell of cooking. Thirst for cold drinks.

Sexual desire increased or entirely absent. Emissions frequent, debilitating, or absent. Genitals cold, aching, or numb. Testicular pain, especially shifting or one-sided. Erections painful or absent.

Symptoms alternate with menses—improvement or aggravation. Leucorrhoea acrid, profuse, and offensive. Mastitis with shooting pains, often changing sides. Prolapse of uterus, with bearing-down sensation. Menses early, profuse, dark, and clotted. Breasts swollen, sore, and sensitive. Left-right alternation common. Great emotional sensitivity before menses. Sexual aversion or hypersensitivity. History of sexual abuse or guilt may be present.

Stiffness and pain, especially in cervical and lumbar regions. Sensation as if back is broken. Pain changes sides or moves up and down spine. Weakness of lower back, worse before menses. Spine sensitive to touch or cold.

Alternating numbness and pain. Neuralgic or rheumatic pains switching sides. Coldness, trembling, and heaviness. Sore, bruised sensation in limbs. Cramps in calves and feet at night. Hands may tremble when writing. Feet may swell before menses.

Sensitive, itching without eruption. Burning, especially on face and neck. Rash appears and vanishes quickly. Ulcers or cracks that alternate sides. Skin complaints linked with suppressed emotions or menses. Warts or nodules may develop after trauma.

• Lachesis – Left-sided, loquacious, hot patients, but less marked alternation of sides
• Pulsatilla – Shifting symptoms, mild disposition, but lacks the intense self-loathing of Lac caninum
• Ignatia – Grief and suppression, but more spasmodic and contradictory than alternating
• Sepia – Hormonal and depressive, but more indifferent than hysterical
• Stramonium – Hallucinations and fear, but more violent and acute

• Complementary: Pulsatilla, Ignatia
• Antidotes: Nux vomica, Belladonna
• Follows well: Sepia in chronic uterine cases
• Inimical: Lachesis (though both are left-sided, they may clash in chronic treatment)

• Consider in throat conditions with alternating pain sides, especially in chronic or recurrent tonsillitis
• Very useful in post-traumatic syndromes, especially after abuse
• Helpful in mastitis, particularly with side-alternating symptoms
• Valuable in hysterical or psychosomatic disorders, especially in women
• Use when symptoms change sides or shift in character regularly

Mind

• Alternating moods
• Self-contempt, loathing
• Delusion: body is not her own
• Fear of insanity
• Dreams, disgrace of

Throat

• Pain, swallowing, alternating sides
• Sensation of plug or lump
• Ulcers, deep, purple

Female Genitalia

• Leucorrhoea, acrid, alternating
• Mastitis, alternating breasts
• Prolapse of uterus

Extremities

• Numbness, alternating sides
• Cramps in calves, night
• Trembling from anxiety

Sleep

• Sleep disturbed by dreams
• Night terrors
• Unrefreshing sleep

• Dr. C. B. Hastings – Original Prover: Initiated proving, emphasised throat and mental symptoms
• James T. Kent – Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: In-depth analysis of mental symptoms and alternation
• Dr. Laura Morgan – Clinical Confirmations: Focused on gynaecological and trauma-related cases
• William Boericke – Pocket Manual: Confirmed alternating throat, mammary and hysterical features
• C. Hering – Guiding Symptoms: Expanded picture of alternating phenomena and nervous affections
• John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Provided detailed descriptions of emotional, nervous, and physical spheres