RIP Cletus 01/23/10 - 12/18/12

12/19/12 - For the whole afternoon I sat on the floor which made Cletus and I the exact same height - eye to eye.  Cletus kept walking over to me and pressing his forhead into mine.  He would then slide his head over for it to land on my shoulder and he would give me a hug.  It was a beautiful afternoon.

... but Cletus looked more and more tired as the afternoon dragged on... he was getting slower and slower. 

I called my partner home from work and Cletus' primary doctor came over and the three of us talked.  Even if a miracle happened and Cletus recovered a little, he still needs to take a multitude of medications multiple times a day which is going to keep hurting his liver.  After his liver, his kidneys will begin to feel the effect. 

...Cletus fought a long and strong fight but we did not want his last days to be days of suffering.

We made the difficult decision to let Cletus go... Cletus passed at 6:20pm EST on December 18, 2012

We decided to donate Cletus' remains to the University of Florida for them to do further studies into open lipped schizencephaly being that Cletus has the only known reported case in an animal.  We feel some comfort with the possibility of by studying Cletus, we may be able to save untold numbers of other animals and humans with this condition.  After study, the University will cremate Cletus and return his ashes to us.

A doctor in Italy contacted us the day before Cletus passed asking for Cletus' DNA to do a study on the condition and we were able to get a sample to send to Italy prior to his passing. 

We also found out today that Cletus' story came out in an international magazine called Our Dogs with a readership of 250,000. 

Cletus' story will continue on as he will in our memory and in our hearts.

R.I.P.

Cletus The Bloodhound

01/23/10 - 12/18/12

Love to all,

Doug