2/22/2012 - 1000 Visitors

2/22/12 - Cletus' blog hit 1000 visitors overnight and Cletus and I thank each and every one of you for your support.  Through this blog and through my research I have been reading about and meeting amazing people and parents of beautiful children affected by schizencephaly.  I have been reading about and speaking to people whose loved pets are affected by seizures caused by epilepsy and/or congenital or non-congential hydrocephalus. 

There is so much we all can do to help each other.  The first thing we need to do is spread the word about these disorders.  The general veterinary community is totally unaware of schizencephaly as is the world in general.  Although this disorder is rare, the people it affects are real and special and fantastic, and they each deserve our attention, respect, love, and undertanding.

For those pet parents whose baby is suffering from seizures, I am going to try to attach the spreadsheet I kept for Cletus as this really help us and the doctors.  It is a great way to help track your pet's condition.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, there are 78.2 million dogs in the U.S. (http://www.humanesociety.org/).  Some sites state that schizencephaly affect 1.54 per 100,000 people.  According to rightdiagnosis.com, schizencephaly affects 1 in 2719 people or 0.04% of the population (http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/lists/preval.htm).  The fact is that no one is sure how many people schizencephaly truly affects.  If we assume these same statistics in dogs, it equates to somewhere between 1,150 and 31,280 dogs out there with schizencephaly in the U.S. alone.

Please help me to get the word out about Cletus and schizencephaly.  Contact your local news organization about Cletus or have your local news organization contact me directly at dsilber27@hotmail.com

Thank you for your support,

Doug & Cletus