2/28/2012 - Seizure #15

2/28/12 - Cletus just had seizure #15. He is doing ok. I am pretty sure this one was caused by the heartworm medication as checking the dates, he has had seizures after taking this medication like clockwork. Even though they say it is safe for epileptics, it may not be safe for schizencephalic dogs (I think I just came up with a new word and possibly a new medication warning). It is so weird having an animal who is the only one in the world diagnosed with a condition... everything is an adventure...

I know the hospital is going to say that seizures are expected and that we can not correlate it to the heartworm medication but... yes I can.  I gave heartworm meds on 10/31, seizure on 11/1.  I gave heartworm meds on 11/27, came home to a large wet spot in the house on 11/28.  I gave heartworm meds on 12/31, seizure on 1/1.  I skipped heartworm meds for 1/31 for February per vet request.  I gave heartworm meds on 2/27, seizure on 2/28.  Even if we say he did not have a seizure on 11/28, we are still at 75%, that is a very strong correlation to me.  Going to call the veterinary hospital tomorrow to see what we can do about the heartworm medication for next month.

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