Mark,
I wanted to share my story about my Lab Niko. Niko came to us almost five years ago as a pup. He was my gift to my now fiancee Jackie, but when he gets into trouble, he is my dog. Briefly I will explain Niko’s sense of humor and personality. Niko is one of a kind, like all dogs are. He loves to take up most of the bed when we sleep and knocks me over when we say “car ride!”. Niko is the type who will pout, give sad eyes, and most of all, talk back if he does not get his way. Needless to say, Niko is spoiled. Three years ago Niko had a grand mal seizure. As parents, we were at a loss of what to do for him. We rushed him to the vet and after a two day visit he came home and was not himself due to the meds that was given to him. He did well for a couple of months, but then he started to have more seizures and eventually the seizures turned into clusters. He is on two different medicines twice a day now. We have tried everything to figure out why he has seizures. From diet, household chemicals, home temp, allergies, or any other trigger we can think of that may be the cause of his seizures and have came up clueless. The vet has determined that Niko has Epilepsy and helps us in advising us on how to manage his disease. A few months ago, Niko had several clusters that hit in one week. The seizures were so severe that we thought we were going to lose him. We debated on whether we should end his suffering, or to keep trying in hopes that the seizures would become less with added medication or with other forms of therapy. We cried, and I am not joking when I say we cried for days in trying to make this unwanted decision. After Niko’s last visit, we decided to wait two months. By the end of the two months, if Niko was not doing any better we would have to make that dreadful choice. Well, it has been almost four months now and Niko has been seizure free!! We could not be more thankful! We have changed his diet again, and stopped using a certain flea treatment. Not sure if either was the cause, but we are just happy that the seizures have ceased. Looking back on when we first got Niko and if we knew he was going to be Epileptic, we would not give him up for anything. He is a true blessing and is part of our family. I hope that others will see the unconditional love we have for him and the love he has for us, and maybe help with research and rescue for dogs with Canine Epilepsy. We enclosed a photo of NIko sending you a big thank you kiss and lots of love! Thank you for all you do for dogs and the U.S.A. God Bless you Mark.

Marc from IN