A chance to help

• By DEBRA LEMOINE
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jul 1, 2009 - Page: 1D

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Fletch has been a healthy basset hound since his owner Yvonne Thomas, of Zachary, adopted him after he was abandoned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

But a couple of months ago, Fletch, 6, began doing some odd things.

Once, he lay down in the doorway, not responding to Thomas’ calls, as she brought him inside. Another time, she found him lying in the grass with her other dogs barking at him, which she thinks was a tactic to get her attention.

“He wouldn’t respond to me at all, and he’s a very responsive dog,” Thomas said. “If you call him, he’s right there.”

Fletch’s unresponsive, flaccid moments are likely signs of a seizure, said Dr. Lynn Buzhardt, a veterinarian in Zachary.

Seizures can occur for all sorts of reasons, from digesting a toxin to having a brain tumor, she said.

In some dogs, such as Fletch, there is no known cause for the seizure. Fletch and his owner are helping to test a new treatment to prevent seizures, Buzhardt said.

Just like in human medicine, new treatment techniques and medications must be tested before they are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in companion animals.

Many treatments, typically the least invasive ones, are tested on companion animals to gauge the effect of the new treatment on the typical clinical patient seen in veterinarian clinics, said Dr. Lorrie Gaschen, associate professor of diagnostic imaging at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.

Pets enrolled in clinical trials often get access to the latest veterinary medical techniques, such as the use of a novel agent for treating a disease to the use of the latest technology to diagnose the pet, Buzhardt said.

In some cases, the treatment offered in a clinical trial might be the only available treatment, Gaschen said.

Treatment in conjunction with clinical trials is typically provided for free or at a discount, Buzhardt said. For some studies, owners will receive “payment” for the trial in the form of a voucher for vet services at their regular vet clinic, Buzhardt said.

Sometimes, the only advantage owners have by participating in a pet clinical trial is knowing they are benefiting veterinary medicine.