10/16/2012 - Trying to reduce CSF levels (pic attached)

10/16/12 - Cletus had a pretty good day yesterday - a little staring but no wobbles, no falling, no crossed paws, he was acting pretty normal - playing with his toys and his brother, had me throw his ball a while (he loves when I throw his ball into the air so he can catch it, he gets so proud of himself).

Cletus' vet called and after speaking with the head of neurology at UF, they decided to raise his prednisone to 2 tabs twice daily and also put him on lasix to try to reduce the amount of CSF in his head.  They agree with me in that they also believe he is having trouble due to pressure in his head due to increasing CSF.  We are increasing these meds for a week to see if the troubles go away.

So the question is... Cletus did not have much trouble yesterday... do I increase the meds?  Even though Cletus was not having trouble yesterday, I am still going to go ahead with the plan.  It could be that Cletus had some small seizures which decreased to CSF levels but I really don't think that is the case.  I just think he has ups and downs but with the way he has been acting over the past week, it is a good idea to reduce the pressure he is feeling.

The downside to increasing these drugs is that he will drink a lot and pee a lot but we can deal with that.  He started on the drugs last night and made it through the night with no problem.  He usually knocks on furniture and doors to wake me up if he needs to go out and if he happens to pee in the house, it is a price we are willing to pay for him to be more comfortable anyway.

So far this morning, Cletus looks very happy and alert, ate breakfast very well, no wobbles, no staring, no falling, no crossed paws, fingers crossed that today will be a good day.

Love to all...

We had to switch to metal bowls after Cletus ate his plastic ones...



If you can, please donate to Cletus' campaign http://igg.me/p/217159

As far as Cletus' doctors are aware of, Cletus has the only known reported case of open lipped schizencephaly in a canine. The key word here is reported. Most vets are not aware that schizencephaly exists or they are not aware that this condition is possible in an animal. Cletus is living proof of this possibility.

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 up to 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

Please help us by contacting Ellen through FB and tweet through the avenue below...

Submit your story to Ellen to potentially be on her show and have her help "change your life": http://ellen.warnerbros.com/show/respond/?PlugID=432

Tweet her: http://twitter.com/TheEllenShow/

Thank you for your support,

Doug & Cletus