Monday, February 6, 2012

2/6/2012 - Open Lipped Schizencephaly Confirmed

2/6/12 - Cletus had his cat scan today and he did very well... that's my boy!! 

Being that we were told Cletus had open lipped schizencephaly and he was the first reported case with this diagnosis in a canine, I was half expecting the cat scan to prove a different diagnosis but to my surprise, the cat scan confirmed the open lipped schizencephaly (I am getting very good at spelling this now btw). 

It is very strange to have a pet with such a unique issue and it is hard to believe that Cletus is the only one out there with this disorder.  There must be other animals who have suffered or are suffering from open or closed lipped schizencephaly that were/are either misdiagnosed or passed away before their owners or the vets figure out what was/is truly wrong. 

Part of our job is to get Cletus better and he is doing very well on his medications.  The other part of our job must be to get the word out about Cletus to inform pet owners and vets about open and closed lipped schizencephaly so pets like Cletus are taken care of properly to live long, healthly, and happy lives.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, there are 78.2 million dogs in the U.S. (http://www.humanesociety.org/).  According to rightdiagnosis.com, schizencephaly affects 1 in 2719 people or 0.04% of the population (http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/lists/preval.htm).  If we assume the same statistic in dogs, it equates to between 28,760 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.

4 comments:

jackie said...

Found this on a friend's website. I have a child with schizencephaly and I am a veterinarian. I would say that dogs go undiagnosed (just like people did before MRI's) because most clients don't pursue further diagnostics or add't imaging to evaluate for seizures or other neuro disorders.

Unknown said...

I fully agree. The fear is that the animals would either continue to get worse (as Cletus was) and die or they would eventually be put down. We were lucky with Cletus. We did the right tests at the right times and had the right doctors. If this diagnosis was not caught, he could have died within days from the pressure build up of the CSF and the multiple seizures. Even if they put him on the CSF control meds thinking it was standard congenital hydro, he would have gone off the normal course of meds after time and the CSF would have built up after 18 days (standard CSF build-up time for dogs). The doctors have been great in that they have listened to and trusted my input pertaining to his care being that I have a medical background.

Unknown said...

My son 23 has been a victim of Chronic SCHIZENCEPHALY. I am excited to share this testimony as i have been sad and confused for the past 23 months of my son been a victim of SCHIZENCEPHALY. Anti-psychotic medicine they induce psychosis, never helped rather worsened the situation, Homeopathy medication is good but has a lot of limitation too. I looked for solution everywhere all to no avail until I contacted a Herbal Doctor whose medicine works perfectly for him, my son situation has greatly improved which is what I have always wanted. If you have related problem, don't lose hope, contact him (ronniemd70@gmail.com)

Unknown said...

I don’t want people to feel sorry for me, that’s not why I am writing this post. My child six years ago, was born with Bi-lateral closed lip schizepcephaly, which is even more unique than the regular cases. Due to this disability, she also developed Cerebral Palsy affecting the left side of her body. We’ve learned the part of her brain which has been affected has also impaired her ability to reason. We’ve been lucky so far though it affects everyone differently and she had been on the very mild side of everything. Another thing we had to dealt with much are seizures. She was highly prone to having one or multiples and we’ve seemed to look out with some petite mals when she was younger and they occurred in her sleep more than any other time.
Luckily, everything seemed to be okay after she took an Herbal Medicine. I wish I could say that’s the end of it because she havn't had any symptoms since then.
Having a child with special needs is difficult. You sit living in fear of the reality your child may face, never really knowing what will happen until it does. Do not expose yourself to more danger, use a herbal remedy that is safe and effective. If interested contact him:
ronniemd70@gmail.com to find out more information about the disorder and treatment.