Basenji Health Issues & Questions

I did have a Westie in the past that had severe allergies to….storagemites, which is in every dogfood that has been stored for a few weeks or more, i.e every food known to man, so he was on the raw diet, did great, he was also severly allergic to fleas, or the saliva from the fleas and to mold/mildew, which living in houston Tx there is a lot of. Poor guy was miserable, until we did the raw diet and decided to keep him inside all the time, when the other dogs went out to play he had to stay in..and it is funny he wanted to go out and the other dogs wanted to come in...figures. The few foods out there that are supposedly good for allergies according to my vet is grainfree ones, Dick Van Pattens sweet potatoe and duck, I believe was one of the ones he recommended. Try to keep the ingredients list as small as possible, cleaner food means less irritants. Just like our food, the less junk we eat the better we feel... Good Luck, I know how hard it is with a dog that clearly is bothered by something and you don't know how to help it. I do know that Petco and Petsmart here in Texas will take food back even though the bag has been opened, which is nice if you are having to try various/numerous different brands until you find what works. Basenjimamma

Despite her potential problems I bet she is absolutely a sweetie. And kudos to you for the resuce.

I know of breeders that would express anal glands EVERY time they bathes dogs for shows… this was when they showed regularly. I found it to be the most disgusting thing ever. I have read and been told that doing it regularly makes it so they will need to have it done more often or issues will arise. No thanks... I have NO PROBLEMS opening up a new wing at the vets for this!

Thank you so much for the encouraging words. We have been running him with our other dogs in our yard, we have about half acre or so, and he is fast..He loves it, just don't think he is used to out heat yet, it is already about 85+ degrees and very humid…I think he looks good, he is definitely babychunky, not fat, but what I envision a puppy looking like before he grows into his own body. We will keep up with what we have done so far and see what he turns out like...can't be bad, just beautiful.. Basenjimamma

And chances are that your vet will tell you that there is no test. Just because it has been available for nearly two years does not mean that they know it is now here. You can do the fanconi tests without seeing a vet at all. Finger's crossed both your Bs come back NOT affected.

Polly is 9 this Christmas. Dec 14th to be exact!

hi all. just checking out how others love their basenjis. i sure love my mango. he's 2+ and makes me laugh everyday!

Robyn, How is Baron doing? I hope all is going well. Pat

When I took my puppy to my vet, he said he had little knowledge of the Basenji, but he would start reading up on them. Since that time, he's thanked me for the opportunity, and says he is learning more all the time - at our last visit for final puppy shots he said he felt he was becoming quite an expert - if you come across a vet who doesn't have a lot of knowledge about them, he could quite easily love the challenge and become great on the Basenji issues. I told him I'd sent for the DNA marker kit and had Shaye tested (thank God, it was clear), and he launched into a really good discussion about the symptoms, illness, etc., and said he was glad I'd done that, but maybe in a while we would do some blood work to be sure of everything. I feel very confident with him now - so, a good vet with a love to be challenged can be an answer too.

@hotrodruby: frankee my 3 year old has also recently developed a red rash and blistering on the left side of his groin area and was licking it constantly, not sure what it could be, we put a cone on to prevent him from licking it. will be taking him to the vet tomorrow. not sure if it is a yeast infection or rashe from something else. I would bet a yeast infection

My Nika's eye got cloudy to the point of flicking your finger at it got no response then the eye turned blood red. Went to the eye vet and it turns out the lens inside the eye slipped. I had to give her other eye these very expensive eye drops called Xalatan or Travatan that kept the pressure down and the pupil small but even then the lens was moving around a little.

This is good news. Hopefully she will be back to normal soon.

@basi: This is what I liked about the German system and many other countries in europe, being that all dogs have to be tested before they can be bred from. @tanza: Is the DNA Fanconi test reconized as a required test in those countries in Europe that require pre-testing? And it is really no different here… most have or are testing, but there are still people that do not and still have their heads in the sand about testing... I wish that all testing was public knowledge like the Fanconi test.... like hips, eyes, etc... Following more in depth from Basi, she is also meaning that in Germany breeders will recieve VERY hefty fines for breeding without the proper testing and permissions from the breed club. They can have their kennel license (of sorts) revoked, be denied from entering shows and registering dogs of their breeding or from other breeders). A dog has to be of a certain age, and received a set amount of show awards before it can be entered into the breeding permissions exam. Then a actual show judge and member of the breed club evaluate the dogs to be entered into the stud books.

I have it easy. Kananga stands in the tub while I scrub him. I've never needed to be with him while he gets his bath. He just likes to lick my hand while I rinse him off. He's extremely tolerant of baths. I noticed this helped when he was blowing his coat earlier in the year. I remember all of the hair that would come off of him.

Shadow ran his first 3 races on Sunday. He came in as the turtle, but he finished! Oval courses are what he ran about 400 yds each time. The last time around there were about 20 people at the finish line cheering him on. He sure didn't run fast, but he finished.

@etzbseder: Luckily i haven't gotten to the point of multiple pills daily, but to give Medjai pills, I have found that the best option is tell him to open and hold his mouth open as I lob the pill to the back of his throat and hold his mouth shut. He just swallows it and is ready to continue about his day. Problem with that is that she has to give 8 to 10 pills twice a day… lots different then one or two... and this is every day 2x a day.. and the BiCarbs are the hardest...

Thanks for the updates and I'm happy Nicky is feeling better. Good news all around.

Wonderful news!!!! Glad you had the DNA test done, we haven't gotten around to it yet.

Congratulations, thats brilliant news.

Thanks everyone! Now I'm wracking my brain trying to remember where exactly her vaccines were. She got two in one day, and I preoccupied with holding her and giving her cookies! I keep rubbing it, and if anything, it seems a bit smaller, but I will absolutely let everyone know what happens next. Cheers