Epi-Star "Luna"   by Dorothy Wills-Raftery     My #FiveSibes #LiveGibStrong November Epilepsy Awareness Month “Epi-Star” features I have been writing this month (based on the concept of my book EPIc Dog Tales: Heartfelt Stories About Amazing Dogs Living & Loving Life With Canine Epilepsy ), where I highlight some amazing dogs who have/had Canine Epilepsy (also known as Epi-dogs), but never let that stop them from living life. Today, I'd like to introduce you to a beautiful Siberian Husky girl named “Luna," who even with seizures and a recent diagnosis of cancer, is a true warrior dog and enjoys life.   When Cela Nash first welcomed beautiful Luna home from the shelter in June of 2016, she was estimated to be about four years old. “ I had had her about four months. At that time, she was overweight, and I was working on getting her down to a good weight.” Cela had her vet run a full panel of tests and she says, they “found she was borderline low thyroi...

   Epi-Star "Lily"       by Dorothy Wills-Raftery    This month, November, as my you know from following us here at FiveSibes, is Epilepsy Awareness Month , and in honor of my Epi-boy, Gibson, I continue advocating for dogs with Epilepsy (Epi-dogs) to show the world that they are pretty amazing and can do anything non-Epis can do!   This month I began a new feature on my blog to introduce everyone to some amazing dogs who live/have lived with Canine Epilepsy, but never letting that stop them from enjoying life!! I call these dogs “Epi-Stars” and if you’ve been following us this month, my new feature is showing how these amazing Epi-dogs greet each day as only a dog can do—with joy and happiness.   I started this journey of Canine Epilepsy awareness with my Gibson in 2009, shortly after his third birthday, and became an official Purple Day® for Epilepsy Ambassador in 2012. Over more than a decade, I have met—and am still meeting—so...

When my book, EPIc Dog Tales: Heartfelt Stories About Amazing Dogs Living & Loving Life With Canine Epilepsy had it's early release, it was so exciting! The early release was for all the amazing dog families who were part of this book--122 stories about 124 dogs  (that I refer to as Epi-Stars) from across the world who lived with Canine Epilepsy. This book was a project so near and dear to my heart. My own Gibson is on the cover and my inspiration to write this book. The stories that came in were...heartfelt and amazing and inspirational. This is a beautiful large glossy coffee table book...and originally put out through my own ArcticHouse Publishing and through Amazon. Now, there is a limited amount of copies available through my FiveSibes ArcitcHouse Books & Gifts Shoppe (the fees to list it online and mailing were just too much and I donate a portion from my books) and I am holding a special for November's Epilepsy Awareness Month .. .t he books right now are on s...

Epi-Star "Riona"  & "Fearghas"       by Dorothy Wills-Raftery This month, for November's Epilepsy Awareness Month, I have been writing an Epi-Star series, based on the concept of my book EPIc Dog Tales: Heartfelt Stories About Amazing Dogs Living & Loving Life With Canine Epilepsy , I am highlighting some amazing dogs who have/had Canine Epilepsy, but never let that stop them from living life. A few starred in my book, including today's beauties, Kelly Robinson's Mastiffs "Riona" and "Fearghas." For many, when one of our dogs starts having seizures it is scary, lonely, and nerve-wracking. Can you imagine two? That is exactly what happened with Kelly’s two beautiful English Mastiffs. The first seizure moment arrived in 2012. “It was the morning after the Patriots lost the Super Bowl," retells Kelly. "I awoke to my beautiful brindle girl acting strange, her head jerking back and forth like a sprinkl...