Hagan 2

I found out that 77% of dogs who seize (according to Dr. Jean Dodds) are hypothyroid. Hagan had no hypothyroid symptoms other than the seizure and my vet said it would be a waste of money to run tests. At my insistence, they ran a full thyroid panel. Sure enough, Hagan scored zero on a scale of 1 to 4. It turned out that Tess, Skansen's Tanzania, was hypothyroid as well and I learned that it is one of several genetic problems common in Giant Schnauzers bred in this country. We started thyroid replacement therapy in hopes the seizures would stop. They didn't. As a matter of fact, they got worse by turning from single seizures into cluster seizures. Cluster seizures can be life threatening and must be stopped immediately. We had an arsenal of Phenobarbital and Valium on hand at all times to control the seizures and stop the horrible clusters. In my effort to control this crummy disease, we also tried acupuncture, acupressure, aroma therapy, Chinese herbs, custom blended flower essences, an animal communicator, and diet and supplement experiments. In Hagan's raw diet - supposedly the best diet for epileptic dogs - I continually adjusted supplements and foods to try to strike a balance to see if we could help his condition. Many epileptic dogs experience fantastic results simply from switching from kibble to raw, fresh, homemade diets. Hagan had been on a raw diet since he was weaned, but it didn't seem to help control his seizures. On the other hand, who knows how bad it would have been for him if he were a kibble fed dog. But it's hard to imagine it being much worse.

The cluster seizures he experienced robbed him of the right to live a drug free life. The drugs, in turn, robbed him of even more. He was unable to ride in the car without becoming preictal (pre-seizure). He was unable to run leash-free as he no longer understood or responded to voice commands. He was unable to play with other dogs because they tried to attack him (survival of the fittest - they knew he was sick). Only his 'sister', Tess, and the yellow lab across the street played with him anymore. Thank God for those sweet girls because Hagan dearly loved to play.

His battle with cluster seizures was eight months long, during which time he became increasingly depressed. I watched him age at an incredibly rapid rate. He never wagged his tail anymore and never held it up. It seemed that anything and everything was a potential seizure trigger. He needed around-the-clock monitoring because if the life-threatening seizures started again, I needed to administer the 25-hour Valium protocol to stop them. The quality of life for all in our home had become painful and grim. In the end, he ceased responding to the treatment options I was able to provide for him. I did my best, the vets did their best, but it wasn't enough.

On May 29, 2001, Hagan seized multiple times while I was at work for the day. The house showed evidence of 'his' day: furniture tipped over indoors and out, papers pushed off my desktop, foamy drool all over the windows and door he blindly tried to go through, urine and feces in all the places where he had fallen and seized. It must have been awful for him to have seized so many times with no one to help or comfort him when he could not see, walk steadily or think straight. When I got home, I started the Valium protocol we did several times a month to stop the clusters. This time, I didn't catch the cluster in time - you need to catch it as soon as possible, preferably after the first seizure.

Later that evening, with him still seizing through the massive doses of Valium and Phenobarbitol, my son and I made the heartbreaking decision to put our beloved, devoted companion to sleep. At 1:00 a.m., May 30, with his beautiful, trusting head in my arms at the emergency vets, Hagan went to sleep for the last time. I whispered in his ear, "Thank you for being my friend," as he left this Earth. I didn't know what else to say. He went with the grace and dignity of a saint. Maybe he was ready.

His absence left a gaping hole in my life. He was tremendous fun to live with and he would have protected me with his life. He taught me more about unconditional love in his short time than I learned from all the other dogs I have shared my life with. He also took me on a path of learning about responsible dog breeding. My vet (and many other vets, too) believes many genetic faults such as hypothyroidism do not show up in dogs until they are three or four years old. He said that the best way to make sure you breed healthy lines is to wait until bitches and dogs are around four and then run all the appropriate tests. When I mentioned this statement on a breed email list, the first response was that it is much harder for a bitch to become pregnant if you wait until she is four. It seems that many breeders want puppies that can win in AKC conformation rings as early as possible so they can breed more 'champions'. I don't understand how anyone can be irresponsible about a breed they claim to love, but then, there's a lot I don't understand. I guess it all boils down to how many dogs a breeder has, how many more they want, how many they want to show in beauty contests and how many puppies they want to sell. People place different levels of value on the life, love, health and spirit of individual animals. I honor and respect my animals. I can only pray for the enlightenment of irresponsible breeders who, for money and ego, bring doomed animals into this world and cause pain and heartache to them and their human companions.

Live on in peace, dear Hagan, free of your demons. I will never forget you.

Judy Frazier