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Mudcrutch Farm Will Be Shutting Down - Read More...

wild1forever

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Posts posted by wild1forever

  14. Posted · Report reply

    1. What's the last thing you threw away? Turkey Day trash. We were reduced to using plastic forks by time dessert was served, lol.

    2. Have you ever been to Paris? Only for a few hours during a train stopover. I would love to spend time there.

    3. What do you stare at? I don't know.

    4. What do you hurry for? When I hear a commotion brewing between my sons in the next room.

    5. Friday fill-in: I could have been an attorney, but I'm glad I decided to be a writer instead.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    SHIH TZU WARNS MOM WHEN HER DAUGHTER'S SEIZURES ARE IMMINENT

    By Linda Goldston, Mercury News

    http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_7531665?nclick_check=1

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    20071122__seizuredog22~4_Viewer.JPG

    When a friend offered Jan Davenport a Shih Tzu puppy, the Santa Cruz woman said "no way!" She lived on the second floor of an apartment complex at the time and took care of her daughter Cyndi, who has severe cerebral palsy. But she did offer to take the pup's mother, if her friend could not find a home for the tattered, matted rescued dog.

    Nearly eight years later, Precious has been a lifeline for Davenport's 31-year-old daughter, who suffers from multiple medical problems, including seizures. Within a few days of joining the family, Precious was predicting Cyndi Davenport's seizures about 45 minutes before they happened.

    "On the fourth day we had her, Precious started running in circles around me, scratching at me," Jan Davenport said. "I thought she had to go to the bathroom and opened the front door for her." Precious refused to leave the apartment, though, running instead to Cyndi Davenport's room, where she had a seizure about 20 minutes later. "It's a miracle, I can't say anything else," Jan Davenport said.

    Experts recognize that certain dogs can detect seizures beforehand - the behavior has been seen in German shepherds, collies, border collies, Labradors and Shih Tzus. But no one knows for sure how they do it, though they may be picking up on a scent or a change in behavior. Some seizure-alert dogs will lick their owner's hand if a seizure is imminent. Precious alerts Cyndi Davenport's mom.

    Precious was 1 1/2 years old when Jan Davenport got her; the dog will turn 9 in January. She wasn't formally trained as a seizure-alert dog but did receive a California Service Assistance Dog certificate after Davenport was able to videotape the dog's actions before Cyndi had a seizure. That allows Precious to go with Cyndi and Jan Davenport inside stores and public buildings - including the new Jamba Juice in Santa Cruz, one of Cyndi Davenport's favorite places. When she's "on duty," Precious wears a bandanna with the words: "do not touch, seizure alert."

    Jan Davenport credits Precious with helping to reduce the number of seizures her daughter has. "Cyndi used to have them once every 10 days," Jan Davenport said. "Now she has them once about every eight weeks."

    In their small Santa Cruz home, Precious keeps constant watch on Cyndi Davenport but will take time out for naps in one of her three favorite sleeping places. When they go out, Precious rides in Cyndi Davenport's lap, gripping tightly so she won't fall. "When we go for a walk, I do the walking," Jan Davenport said. "These guys are riding."

    A former San Jose police officer who gave up her job to be the in-home caregiver for her daughter, Jan Davenport has managed to hold onto her humor and positive outlook despite a long 15 years of challenges.

    Cyndi Davenport was born four months prematurely, and her mother was told her only child would not live past age 5. "And now she's 31!" They made it through that, then Jan Davenport was diagnosed with Stage 4 cervical cancer in 1990 and had to undergo 36 months of chemotherapy. "I would be as sick as a dog but Cyndi would pat me and it would be OK," Davenport said. "We just take each day as it comes." The two are closer than most mothers and daughters, finishing each other's sentences and "knowing what the other is thinking." They're both "goofy about Precious."

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