I t is with a heavy heart that I share the news that Marion Mitchell, co-founder, co-owner, and site manager of the Canine Epilepsy Resources  website, and  former director of the Dalmatian Club of America's study group on seizure disorders,  has earned her human angel wings on October 30th. It's profound that the news came during  Epilepsy Awareness Month, a cause near and dear to Marion's heart. I'm sure her beloved "Emma" was there waiting alongside her dear husband, Terry, at the entrance to Heaven's Rainbow Bridge to greet her, along with many of our Epi-dog furangels who were all once helped by Marion's information.   Marion was like a beacon in a storm to so many, including me, way back in my early days when my beloved Epi-dog "Gibson" was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy shortly after his third birthday in 2009. While the Internet was in its infancy then, there was not much out there on Canine Epilepsy. But Marion was there, wit...

Epi-Star, Emma       by Dorothy Wills-Raftery    A Tribute to a Special Dalmatian  K9 Epilepsy Awareness Trailblazer   As part of November's Epilepsy Awareness Month , and my series on "Epi-Star" dogs with Epilepsy (Epi-dogs), I want to give a nod to, and talk about, a trailblazing dog that advocated for Epi-dogs. One of the first resource people I came in contact with after my Gibson was diagnosed as an Epi-dog in 2009, was Marion Mitchell and her story of her beloved "Emma," a beautiful Dalmatian that was also an Epi-dog, diagnosed in 1994 at just 15 months of age. Through all the trials and tribulations, medications, and quest for alternative treatments, Emma was able to climb mountains, including a "14,000' mountain" with her family, swim, and go on camping trips.    Marion and Emma showed that dogs with Epilepsy can still enjoy life.     As her hu-mom, Marion, is quoted in her Cybermesa blog dated July4, 1998: " Wonderful ne...