@julia87 How much do you know about Basenjis? Have you met any? It's highly recommended to learn as much as possible about them before making a decision to acquire one. This would be a good place to start.
Fanconi sucks
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I guess all I can say about the color of our dogs is that Pepper who's sire is Budlight king is a Tri and Ed of course is a red n white. I dont think we have to worry too much about Ed taking ANY pills, you see Ed is a P.I.G.
He will eat anything that touches the floor or is anywhere near his bowl. We have given him pills before and he swallows then before he even knew he had them in his mouth. We have already started to adjust the diet, we purchased the EVO dog food for him and he loves it(wish my checkbook felt the same, but he's worth it) We have had all of the blood work and things of that nature done and fortunately we found 2 Vets in the Madison area that have dealt with faconi and are working together on Ed. They are aware of the vitamin/supplement regimen a few of you have mentioned and they have recommended it. We are waiting on the results of a couple of the tests and will be starting the protocol within the next day or 2 I suspect. -
I have had 6 Fanconi dogs. The protocol works. Although we haven't been as fortunate as many on the Yahoo Fanconi List (which I urge you to join, there is a tremendous amount of experience and everyone understands completely what you're feeling), we know deep in our hearts that we made a difference. Before the protocol, dogs with Fanconi ALWAYS died within a very short time. I know of Fanconi dogs treated with the protocol who have lived over half their lives with Fanconi, and continue to lure course, show in conformation and obedience, and be loving friends to their owners.
Dogs who fight the pills are much more difficult, but there are a number of ways to handle this - it takes a lot of trial and error to find the best way for each dog. Be strong, it will get more routine, although it's never easy. -
Argh, 16 pills a day! Oh well he's worth it
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The bicarbs are the biggest issue - they taste really salty and apparently generally yucky, and unfortunately are also the most important. For some dogs, you have to hide them in treat balls and even be certain that the fingers that touch the pills don't touch the outside of the treat… Everything else is pretty manageable. If he is taking the Pet Cal, you can substitute dicalcium phosphate powder which I used to mix in the food with a little water. Lots of them don't seem to like the Pet Cal, but don't mind the powder. The Pet Tabs Plus are usually gobbled right down, but if not, there are other vitamins which seem to taste better to them. Start the bicarbs slowly, gradually increase to the needed dosage.
It does get easier; I just kept telling them (and myself) "I want you around to love for a long time, so you need to take these!" -
Tayda is currently willingly taking her bicarbs in brie. She is so spoiled. lol. Actually, I normally give them to her hidden in cream cheese (which she will swallow - but not willingly.) I bought this brie w/ herbs in it that I didn't like and tried using it to pill her just so I wouldn't waste it. She eats them on her own. HA.
The bicarbs are the toughest part for us. And usually an hour or two after she has them she drinks a LOT of water. So usually an hour or two after that she has to pee… so I try to give her the evening dose of bicarbs early enough that she gets most of her peeing done before we go to sleep. Otherwise I'm up 2 or 3 times during the night to let her out.
Mashed potatoes are another alternative when she decides she's had enough of the cream cheese. The rest just gets crushed into her food...
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We had the hardest time with the potassium because the were huge and you were not supposed to break them. After a lot of trial and error and finding pill fragments around the house we finally found something that worked. Kraft American Cheese slices. Now because Marley was a Basenji no other cheese would do. If it was ANY other brand she just wouldnt take them which made it tough when we were traveling.
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Have you tried meat baby food, the ham and veal really have a strong smell, I used to use that with my fanconi boy.
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The potassium I give is not very large, the kind you buy over the counter with 99 mg. of Potassium. There is also Gold Vet Potassium Citrate granules that you can put in the food. I believe it is liver and beef flavored. I started using it because my previous B, Zippy, became ill from too many prescription Potassium pills as they upset her stomach. I purchase it at KV Vet Supply. I started using it again when I had to increase the Potassium for Missy.
I had a hard time breaking up Pet Cal pills years ago and I quit buying it. I use either the powdered Calcium or another pill brand of Calcium.
I try to use as many products that I can put in her food since she already takes 10 bicarbs a day, thyroid medication, and other pills. Luckily I can coat the pills in canned dog food and she takes them.
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The potassium pills are aspirin sized so they shouldn't be too bad. We are planning on sticking them in little pieces of chicken liver or something along those lines. The powder would be nice but with 2 B's, you don't have any way of gauging if he is getting all of it. Another thing we are looking into is a pill grinder for the other pills since we aren't supposed to grind the potassium but are OK to do it with the others. We are going to use the EVO canned food to make a meatball or something like that. We will let you know how that goes. Thanks again for all of the advice!
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The potassium pills are aspirin sized so they shouldn't be too bad. We are planning on sticking them in little pieces of chicken liver or somethign along those lines. The powder would be nice but with 2 B's, you dont have any way of gauging if he is getting all of it. Another thing we are looking into is a pill grinder for the other pills since we aren't supposed to grind the potassium but are ok to do it with the others. We are going to use the EVO canned food to make a meatball or something like that. We will let you know how that goes. Thanks again for all of the advice!
Good luck, hope that things go well…. and more tricks are using cream cheese, butter, frozen yogart, peanut butter, cheese wiz.....
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I have tried to upload a picture for my profile and add some pics to an album but i get a security token error and unable to put any up. I let the Admin know so hopefully soon. We are breaking down the protocol with our vet since Ed is so early in the syndrome, the supplementation is going to be much less than the entire protocol which is good. we are VERy nervous since we want to do everything right for him. Again thanks for all the kind words. Just an update on the Pedigrees if anyone has any information they can pass along: Eds was Hestekin Hills Flower and Sire was Budlight Bud, Peppers was Hestekin Hills Love My Mindy and Budlight King.
Sorry to hear about Ed. It does sound like he was bred before the DNA tests were really well known. I know Teresa had started testing at some point and Ed must have been bred prior. Still though, nothing fun to deal with.
I'm certain that Peppers should be either a carrier or clear considering Budlight King was tested clear and Love My Mindy was tested carrier. IIRC, Clear and Carrier breed clear and carriers.
There's a lot of great info on this forum to help you with the Fanconi.
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Just be sure you do NOT grind or crush the bicarbs - they need to be given whole so that they buffer the blood, not the food/stomach contents.
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And, you can contact Dr. Gonto directly at outdoc@aol.com He is very open to talking with you or helping educate your vet on the ins and outs of Fanconi syndrome. He has assisted in the treatment of over 2500 animals with Fanconi; his experience is invaluable.
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I am so sorry to hear. I have a basenji that is ill and I thought it was fanconi right now being treated for uti. I am scared for she is still drinking and pee tons. Hope your baby is feeling better soon.
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I am so sorry to hear. I have a basenji that is ill and I thought it was fanconi right now being treated for uti. I am scared for she is still drinking and pee tons. Hope your baby is feeling better soon.
Did you use the test strips? Did the Vet check for sugar in the Urine and do blood work for sugar in the blood?
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UTI's are common in Fanconi dogs because they sugar in the urine provides a good food source for bacteria.
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UTI's are common in Fanconi dogs because they sugar in the urine provides a good food source for bacteria.
Good point lvoss. Still would like to know if testing has been done….for either Fanconi or diabetes
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yes, blood work for sugar and that was negative. The test strips came back negative too.
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yes, blood work for sugar and that was negative. The test strips came back negative too.
And did the Vet check the urine for sugar? How old were the test strips? They are only good for 6 months max once the bottle is opened
