Sick Cat Zeppo

1
Can someone please take a look at this? The situation is that my cat Zeppo is sick and I can?t tell his prognosis from the chart.

The data is Feb. 5, at 12:37 AM in Falls Church, VA, 38 N 53, 77 W 10, + 5 hours GMT.

The cat is Mars ruler of the 6th house. I would have been Mars too, as Scorpio is the ASC, so I guess I have no significator. I?d say that the Moon would be the cat?s chances of improving, or just the question in general. I first compared the strength of both Mars and Mercury, which rules the turned 6th house, which would the cat?s illness. Mars? only dignity is only by term, while Mercury has it by triplicity and term, so the disease is stronger than his health, but not overwhelmingly so. But Mercury is combust so it can?t bring it?s badness to the situation. Let me digress just a bit.

The cat?s sister, Guernsey, got sick last year and I did a chart for her and her illness was also shown by a strong Mercury and that combined with some other factors lead everyone here to conclude that the cat?s chances were pretty slim. The vet diagnosed her with cancer and gave her a bad prognosis. The cancer had spread to a number of organs and they operated but couldn?t remove it. But no one on here or myself noticed or mentioned that in that chart Mercury was combust. And guess what happened? This cat is still alive and healthy. The cancer is apparently in remission. Not only is the cat not dead, but she?s getting fat, which is something of a first. Just as a side note, in Guernsey?s chart, Mercury was also retrograde and a bit closer to the Sun than it is in the current chart. But on the other side, it was also angular, while it isn?t here. There really were a lot of other bad signs in Guernsey?s chart ? her significator was in it?s detriment in her turned 8th house, the Moon was going to be conjunct with Uranus, then it applied by opposition to the cat?s significator, then to mine to by square, and Pluto was right on the cusp of the turned 10th house.

I don?t have a lot of experience with medical charts. So when I see this current chart with the cat?s illness represented by a combust planet, I think of what happened last year with his sister. Shouldn?t combustion mean that the illness is not as strong as it looks? In Zeppo?s chart now, Mercury ? the illness - is cadent, whereas Zeppo?s significator is in a succedent house.

The other thing I notice is that the Moon?s last aspect was conjunct Pluto and its next aspect is conjunct Mars, the cat himself. That bothered me quite a bit. When I did the chart I didn?t know for sure what the problem was. He?s in the animal hospital now with kidney disease. So I see Pluto as the toxins and poisons in his body. So the Moon will translate the poison from Pluto to him.

But the Moon also will be trine the north node first before it joins Mars. The north node is in Zeppo?s turned 1st house. I know that the north node can?t take any of the whammy away from Pluto, but it?s got to help some, right?

This is where I am not thinking straight, because I am so devoted to the little guy, but I wondered if there is any meaning to the fact that Mars is about to switch signs to Capricorn where it exalts? The Moon joins Mars at 29? 08? literally right before it switches signs. Could that show that he gets better?

Normally when you see the two significators join I thought it showed that you get the outcome you desire, but I just don?t know. Pluto really bothers me here.

Should I make anything of Jupiter in the 12th house? It rules the house and sign where that cat?s significator is. What should I make of Zeppo?s significator being in the 2nd house? Even if I turn the chart, that would make it the 9th house. Neither makes a lot of sense for a sick animal or person for that matter.
Mark F

2
Zeppo, hey that's a cool cat name.

The only thing I know about medical charts is that ruler of 6th in good condition = bad thing. Ruler of 6th in bad condition = good thing.

I've just realised that with a sick pet, the significator of the pet will be the same as significator of the illness (because the 6th rules pets and illness).

So..hmmm.

5
Hi Mark,

I hope things turns out well for little Zeppo. I?ve posted the chart above. A couple of points I noticed in your post:
I first compared the strength of both Mars and Mercury, which rules the turned 6th house, which would the cat?s illness. Mars? only dignity is only by term, while Mercury has it by triplicity and term, so the disease is stronger than his health, but not overwhelmingly so. But Mercury is combust so it can?t bring it?s badness to the situation.
You are comparing the strength of the two significators on essential dignity alone, but it?s usual to consider essential and accidental dignity when deciding which planet has the most power to act. So the fact that Mercury is combust would detract from its strength. In fact if you work out the fortitude and debility of each planet numerically using Lilly?s table Mars comes out stronger than Mercury.


Mars =
Own terms +2
In 2nd house +3
Direct + 4
Swift + 2
Oriental + 2
Free of Sun + 5 = 18

Mercury =
Own triplicity + 3
Own terms + 2
In 3rd house + 1
Direct + 4
Swift + 2

Oriental ? 2
Combust - 5 = 5

Of course, this is only a starting point for the judgement and other factors need to be considered. I know you recognise your own bias, but as the astrologer, if this chart isn?t meaning something clear and useful to you it?s probably best not to torment yourself with it. My young dog died unexpectedly last year and the horary I did for that was very clear despite my bias, so much so that I couldn?t bear to look at it or think about it because I wanted to remain hopeful. The cat has obviously become more ill since the time of the question, so it?s hard to know if its description of a worsening state of health relates to what has happened since the time of the question until now. I?m not sure I?m making my point very clearly, but to have said two weeks ago that the cat?s health will suffer and be a cause for concern would have been very apt, and it might not be so apt at this stage. This is not an easy chart because the immediate indications give mixed messages. For example, the Moon?s application to Mars might show that the illness is coming to a head; Mars is a fighting planet and not one that yields easily unless very heavily afflicted, but Mars also rules the turned 8th. And I?m not sure if the Sun?s applying trine to Jupiter is capable of offering benefit considering their debilities and house positions.


But before deciding whether this chart is actually useful to you, think about how effectively it describes the situation as you know it. Does Mars in Sagittarius, for example, make an appropriate significator for Zeppo? Culpeper writes:
The oppression of the Moon in Sagittarius by Mars, declaredth the patient to be vexed with a most desperate sickness; originally from gluttony, surfeiting or overmuch repletion, hath high fevers, coming of choler, a flux of the belly, the pulse weak. Things that cool and obstruct are good; If the Moon be not beheld by the favourable aspects of Jupiter or Venus [it is, though Jupiter is accidentally weakened], the sick will hardly escape the 7th day; but having past that day, there is great hope of recovery.
The ?surfeiting? is because of the rulership by Sagittarius of Jupiter. The last comment is because Mars doesn?t usually delay its influence.

You know that there are kidney troubles so these need to be identified in the chart. For that reason I think Jupiter (cat?s dispositor) in Libra (kidneys) is a key planet. If you don?t allow the Moon?s conjunction with the outer planet Pluto to interfere with its ability to translate between the traditional planets (I don?t), then the Moon is translating from Jupiter to Mars. Jupiter opposes the cat?s house of life and vitality and its retrograde status could show a recurring illness. It might also show that the kidney problems have a knock-on effect that bring problems with the liver. The other point that struck me is that the Moon rules the cat?s turned 4th house which contains Saturn. Saturn, according to Culpeper can show pain the bladder and the Moon is a natural significator for the bladder and ?diseases in the stones?.

If you want to try and make a prognosis from this kind of chart I strongly recommend that you invest in a copy of Culpeper?s Astrological Judgement of Diseases and study his method. Identifying the roots and course of the illness needs a lot of consideration and Culpeper outlines a method whereby you can examine the ?critical days? to discover the periods of greatest crisis.

6
Thanks so much everyone. That's basically what I though - mixed signals.

Did anyonr consider this? The dispositor of the illness is Saturn in Cancer = kidneys. Just a thought.

So Deb, you don't place a lot of emphasis on the Moon's last aspect with Pluto? That surprises me some. I'll trust your experience, but I had thought from watching you work that you use the modern planets when they either are in contact with the main significators or are angular.

I don't want to sound cold, but one other thought crossed my mind - Mars in the 2nd shows I lose my shirt on the deal. They have him in kitty emergency care which is running about $500 a day. I am considering less expensive treatment with the vet right now.

Does the north node have any meaning at all? I really have to say I am confused as to how to use them in general. Foreteller seems to use them as the cornerstone of his way of doing things, but he hasn't posted that much on here so maybe I'm not right about that. Something tells me to only use them if a planet is conjunct a node, that they don't have aspects.
Mark F

7
Hi Mark,

I didn?t mean to imply that I would ignore Pluto altogether; there?s obviously a lot more in this chart than I?ve had chance to comment on. I only meant that I wouldn?t allow a more immediate contact with an outer planet to prevent me considering the merit of a ?translation of light? between two traditional planets. The way that I use the outer planets is not too dissimilar to the way I use the prominent fixed stars. They can be very descriptive, but they don?t have the fluidity of movement that we need for principle significators.
Does the north node have any meaning at all?
Lilly uses the North node as a benefic, so that?s one of the factors that helps to alleviate the negative indications. I also think it?s good that there?s no emplacement of the cat?s significator with the radical 8th house or direct contact with its ruler. In the charts I?ve worked on where death is strongly indicated, there usually is. But still, there?s enough to worry about and I agree that the relevance to the financial strain this puts you is very clear in the chart. But I still wonder whether this chart has exhausted the immediate warning it could give you at the time you asked the question. It seems to show an illness-related matter that deserves concern and it hangs in the balance between being bad and very bad. Since a couple of weeks have passed, it might be worth re-asking the question in the light of what you now know, to see if you get a clearer chart.

8
Ask the question again? My thoughts exactly. I know it's not a good idea to do that, but since a lot has happened, I wondered if that might not be OK to do.

After talking it over with three different vets and decided to take a middle ground with the treatment. The first vet had me put him in an emergency clinic for 3 ? 5 days of IV fluids. While that doesn?t sound very expensive ? it?s just an IV drip in his little arm ? it still would have been about $2,000. Another vet said that he could see him and give him the needed fluids under the skin. He had that done on Wednesday and he seemed better the next morning. That vet was very encouraged that the one treatment of fluids seemed to give him a boost. Thursday he ate a bit, which is the first food he?s downed in about a week. So I picked him up from the emergency clinic, where they had him on the IV for 24 hours. The blood work showed that the bad stuff in his blood had come down about 32% overnight, which is good, but it?s still really high. With that in mind, I?m going to put him on the treatment of the fluids under the for a week or so. This is about $20 each, or less if I can learn to do this myself. He goes back to the vet tomorrow morning.

With that plan in mind, I did another chart. I got a very early rising sign, right around 1?, so I took that literally - it?s too early to tell.

I did notice that Deb?s quote from Culpepper said that when the health is shown by Mars in Sagittarius in aspect with the Moon, that the best course of action is things that cool. This makes sense. Mars in a fire sign = too much heat. I wonder how that relates to the problem, which is a build up of toxins? Are toxins in the blood always related to heat?

Is there any chance that the fact that Mars was about to change signs into Capricorn where it exalts is a good thing? Or is that just a sign of that it?s late in the day?
Mark F