by Mike Henle
A 12-year-old Schnauzer named Fritz and his buddy (this writer Mike Henle) Truly are both living seizure-free to live another day following a day of fearful setbacks.
Like so many others who seemingly cannot live without a dog, the Schnauzer literally walked into our lives.
Fritz was the name we came up with, since the previous Schnauzer was named Blitz, so one seemed to follow the other into our long string of dogs over the years.
The former “Blitz” lived up to his promise for over a dozen years, and was a typical “Schnauzer,” if you know what I mean.
The new Schnauzer “Fritz” came into our lives one day as he was seen running down a street in southwest Las Vegas several years ago, and I couldn’t help but capture him and take him home.
Fritz showed his talent recently when he perched himself in front of a mirror and actually responded to the mirror moving, as though the mirror was actually another individual. The entire “act” went on for several minutes and kept us in suspense.
However, the modern day Schnauzer was suddenly struck by six seizures, a relatively unusual setback for any dog, especially when talking about a Schnauzer.
Some $1,200 in vet bills later, we still have a brand new Fritz that appears to have survived – and that’s all that matters.
Now comes the reality of the experience, considering that I, too, am a former epileptic – complete with seizures that dominated my life for many years.
For some reason, a man who formerly had epilepsy and the seizures that accompany the experiences (this writer), is now living a good life simply because someone cared. We honestly feared that Fritz was not going to make it, but he proved to be a survivor, and he’s happy now.
Like many of us, Fritz met the call and hung on, and we’re happy to have him back! The night before, we were certain that we would have to put down, but that wasn’t the case.
I’m seizure-free now thanks to the doctors at Scripps La Jolla in San Diego in 1996; and Fritz is seizure free, too, simply because we all care about one another.