Skip to content

"Do NOT give extra vitamins to "affected"

Basenji Health Issues & Questions
  • Sorry to double-post, but I wanted to make sure youngandtired got the message since the question had been asked in the midst of the middle of a long conversation–----- so,

    I did email Dr. Gonto again, and I got a response this morning.
    I am SO GLAD that I asked BEFORE starting to "pre-treat" Jazzy.

    He recommended strongly AGAINST that.

    He did suggest WEEKLY STRIP TESTING, and mentioned the venous blood gas tests as a way to get an earlier "catch" of the syndrome {gee, Pat, where've we heard that before }

    I told him what I was thinking of doing:
    I am thinking of beginning to feed high protein canned lamb at least once a week, giving 1/2 Pet-tab and 1/2 Pet-cal w/D twice a day, 1 Centrum complete vitamin once a week, and possibly 1 amino fuel tablet once a week, holding off on the bicarb since the dosage for that would be related to the progression of the disease {from what I understand}.

    And he responded:

    I must disagree with ALL the above, since you are "replacing" what the dog is NOT losing yet (and MAY NEVER…since we are not yet sure that ALL dogs with the gene set express it). In fact, the excess vitamins and protein may HARM the kidneys!!!! All that excess MUST be renally wasted. I would just feed NORMAL good quality food, use FILTERED water for the dogs drinking (a tap end PUR, Culligan or BRITA is fine)...even a BRITA type pitcher is fine. However, FILTERED water is best for ALL your family with the stuff we are finding in our tap water now

    So now we know….....

  • Thanks for posting that.

  • hay what a minute!, dr.gonto's told me to start giveing my basenji pedro the vitamins!! and i did tell him that my basenji was tested for the fanconi and he came back carring both the genes< affected and carrier!!.

  • He is not Carrier and Affected, he is PROBABLY AFFECTED. Did you have his blood gas results? Did Dr Gonto base his recommendation on those results? You said you were having that done this past Monday. If he made his recommendation based on Pedro's medical history, he may have seen something that led him to believe your boy needs this supplementation.

  • tanza, pedro: when i got pedro's resaults back i called to find out what they ment, i was told by a guy there named john, that pedro had both the carrer and the affected gene!, now ivoss is telling that they can't have both genes.!!!?? i'm so darn confussed here, the test is maked (homozygous A/A- at risk for developing fanconi!!). so that means he has the affected gene only!????

  • hi ivoss, glad to hear from u!!. how have u been? i did get the test done and emailed the resaults to dr.gonos, and he said evey thing looked good, but to start him on vitamins!. and i also got the water filter and boy is there a big difference in the taste!!. IVOSS WHAT DOES ( PROBABLY AFFECTED)?????? DOES THIS MEAN HE MIGHT NOT EVER SHOW SIGNS!???. OR DOES IT MEAN (HE IS AFFECTED!!!!?)

  • Homozygous A/A means that he has two copies of the defect gene so he is Affected. A Carrier is heterozygous A/N so has only one copy of the defect gene and not Affected. The results are all PROBABLY because it is a linked marker test and not the direct gene test. Even so the test has so far been quite accurate.

  • thanks ivoss!, that helped me more on this. so this means BOTH PARENTS HAD BEEN AFFECTED THEN!!!!!> DA```IT!!!!

  • It means both parents had to have at least one copy of the gene. They could both have been Carriers and still produced Affected offspring. That is why a Carrier should only be bred to a Clear because otherwise they can produce Affected offspring.

Suggested Topics

  • 0 Votes
    5 Posts
    1k Views
    First things first...sending tons of virtual hugs for you and Lenny. Now for the "fun" part. You can do this and it will be far less stressful coming from someone Lenny knows loves him. If you don't have a grooming table, find a comfy spot for both of you. I put a cozy blanket over the guest bed and tied the leash to the bedpost. Use a muzzle. Follow vet instructions as reviewed above. My boy "Rock'n Rowdy Rascal of Thor" went through this in 2016. He growled, but had never bitten anyone. The muzzle was a preventative measure. Once it went on, he relented and snuggled up to whoever was treating him. Rascal crossed the bridge in 2017. By the time we got the Cushing and cancer diagnosis he had deteriorated too far for treatment. You are 2 years in and that lends hope. We are here anytime you need to a shoulder. Your Basenji family in this forum is a treasure of knowledge. They know more than many vets. Prayers lifting... Cynthia
  • 0 Votes
    9 Posts
    44k Views
    Thanks eeeefarm, I was looking under visitor messaging instead of privacy settings. Appreciate it!
  • 0 Votes
    15 Posts
    4k Views
    I usually give the fish oil as the whole capsules in their food. They must like them because they will usually pick them out and eat them first. I am giving a few different supplements to one dog, but that is mainly because he likely has IBD (supplements to help heal the intestines) but don't really give any to the other dog other than fish oil. I do give probiotics, but from a pet food/supplement perspective (like every other supplement) it is definitely buyer beware, as it is un-regulated. Not all strains of probiotics are equally shelf stable. L. acidophilus, for instance, is notoriously unstable and won't last long at high temperatures or in moisture unless it has been stabilized in some sort of carrier (Pearls, for example), or refrigerated. So, buy ones that have a measured number of organisms (or CFUs - colony forming units) or some sort of "viability date". If it's just a weight of organisms, that really doesn't tell you if they are viable or not, they could be dead. And probiotics are not effective unless a sufficient amount is given on a consistent basis. You may have to adjust the amount you are giving if you are not seeing whatever results you are expecting. Probiotics is an area with a lot of potential but unfortunately it is mired in a bunch of marketing hype and the science is still developing on how to effectively use them. It's hard to tell what is real and what's not, unfortunately.
  • 0 Votes
    43 Posts
    25k Views
    @JoT: Salis, Please contact Liz Hansen at the research lab and inform her of this situation. She will need the full names of your dog and both parents. Please send her an email at : HansenL@missouri.edu, Liz is very nice and quite helpful. She will help you understand the results. She will investigate your test. JoT, thank you! I've already wrote Liz Hansen:-) I'm a bit unlucky with it test, i made order in January and after half a year I got this result! Lucky it's not affected!
  • 0 Votes
    15 Posts
    6k Views
    Glad the report you got is good…let us know how it goes.
  • 0 Votes
    11 Posts
    5k Views
    I've only just read this post as I was away for a few days. I couldn't agree more with Tanza about substantial and bladed bone. The UK standard calls for fine bone which is interpreted by some to mean 'weedy'. As Tanza says it is not all black and white. After all the term 'fine' is open to individual interpretation. I had a look on your website Tanza and agree that Maggii is very feminine and has good bone.