12/22/12 - Trent Kelly of ABC News WCJB TV20, who ran a story on Cletus in October, ran a follow-up story last night on Cletus' donation to the University of Florida. Trent is honestly one of the most thoughtful and caring people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Once again, thank you Trent.
Below is a link to Cletus on ABC TV20 News from October 16, 2012 if you missed it...
Local Dog Diagnosed With Rare Condition Never Before Seen in Pets | WCJB TV-20
The following is a link to Cletus on ABC TV20 from December 21, 2012...
http://www.wcjb.com/local-news/2012/12/high-springs-dog-extremely-rare-condition-passes-away
To purchase a copy of Our Dogs International Magazine Annual 2013 in which Cletus' story is told, the link is below...
https://www.ourdogs.co.uk/acatalog/ANNUALS.html
On a side note, I will be closing Cletus' donation campaign located at http://igg.me/p/217159 at the end of the month.
As far as Cletus' doctors are aware of, Cletus had 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
Thank you for your support,
Doug
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.
4 comments:
I am having a really hard time Doug. I had not been to this site in some days and just now read about Cletus. I never met cletus and I did not have to; your description wsa enough to make me fall deeply inlove with him. All I can say is this: if he's not there to greet you, you'll know you're not in heaven. With my head low and my heaert so heavy, Gayle
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
You are his life, his love, his leader.
He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.
You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion."
~ Unknown
I have read with much interest about Cletus and I am so sorry to hear of your loss. You're dedication and sacrifices you made to care for him were incredible. Although he is not here in body, He will always be in your heart.
I have a dogue de Bordeaux, Mitch, who has just had an MRI, due to his seizures and he is very ataxic. I was told he had a lesion in the temporal lobe of his brain which was filled with fluid. When I received a letter from the neurologist with the the results he wrote " the MRI characteristics were suggestive of schizencephaly".
I have been advised this area of the brain is very hard to treat, as this is causing the seizures, and is poorly responsive to anti epileptic drugs. He is on phenobarbital and have increased his dose as I cannot stop these as can have an adverse affect.
I get the impression from my vets that they are unable or unwilling to do anymore fro him really other than the pheno.
I thought I would share this with as you have cared so much for Cletus and campaigned so hard to make people aware of this rare and awful condition in dogs. I am grateful that I have found you and Cletus and has helped me see what road we have to face.
Be strong for Cletus.
Thank you.
Dee from the UK
Hi Dee,
I am sorry to hear about what Mitch is going through. I know how heart wrenching it is for a parent to watch their pet go through something like this and not know what to do to help them. We took Cletus for acupuncture and surprisingly, it worked very well. We also had Cletus on much more than pheno. Of course, each individual is going to respond to treatment differently but if I can be of any assistance, please let me know, I am here for you for advise, to be a sounding off board, or just to listen.
Doug
Post a Comment