10/31/12 - Happy Halloweeeeeen!! I hope this Halloween is nearly not as scary as last year! Today marks the 1st anniversary of Cletus' first known seizure. Cletus actually had his seizure at 2:15am on November 1st but we chalked his seizure up to the excitement of the tons of kids coming to the door due to the holiday. Who knew that although it could have been the excitement that took Cletus over the top, the cause of Cletus' seizure and the many yet to come would turn out to be a condition that no other dog in the world has ever been reported to have.
Cletus and the entire household have been through so much in the past year including a countless number of trips to the emergency room, countless doctors, countless pills, acupuncture, physical therapy, a torn ACL... but Cletus and the entire household have made it through, stronger, smarter, tougher, and closer together.
Cletus has taught me so much since last Halloween... I have learned that even though all the chips may be stacked against you, you can still persevere... I have learned to push for what is important and for what you believe is right... more than anything, I have learned that the most important thing in this world is unconditional love.
Continue to persevere Cletus... I promise to continue to push for you... and I will always, ALWAYS love you unconditionally.
NOTES:
The more exposure we can get for Cletus, the more likely it is that we can help other animals out there suffering from open lipped schizencephaly. Cletus can't be the only one with this condition. Animals must be getting misdiagnosed and dying from OLS due to vets not understanding what they are dealing with. Help us get the word out about Cletus and schizencephaly.
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
I am Douglas Silber and I was the owner of Cletus, a bloodhound who is reported to be the 1st dog with open lipped schizencephaly (OLS). Even though he has the only reported case of OLS in a dog, he can't be the only one with the condition. This blog began with the purpose of following his life and to help educate about OLS in an animal. Cletus may no longer be by my side but I will continue to push for schizencephaly education and awareness... in the name and memory of Cletus the Bloodhound.
1 comment:
Doug,your words-from-the-heart above, uh, ruined my mascara....:-)Hard to type now....
Did want to ask--what are the names of Cletus' toys of which he knows each individually? :-)))) G
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