One of my Basenjis is also diagnosed with early kidney disease. The vet prescribed Enalapril Maleate (generic for Vasotec). My vet allowed me to choose whatever prescription food I wanted to use. After some research I chose Blue Buffalo BLUE Natural Veterinary Diet KS Kidney Support. I looked into and tried a more holistic food, Dr. Harvey's - a dehydrated food, but Kushika couldn't manage to eat it without getting it all over the walls, kitchen floor, and herself so we went back to the kibble. I liked the Dr. Harvey food AND you can call to talk to Dr. Harvey, who asked me to send Kushika's lab results to him so he could make specific recommendations dependent on those results. Kushika came to live with us at almost 10 years old and was immediately diagnosed with kidney disease. At age 12+ she is still with us, going strong and looking better than when she arrived.
No longer eating
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Yes my girl had pancreatitis she stopped eating and just laid down and stopped eating and drank very little. She would not eat liver cheese with anything. had blood work all ok x-rays all ok did a ultra sound and found cancer in her Pancreatitis had to put her down as she was suffering she was 12 and had a good life only sick 3 days.
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@eeeefarm Yes, we did check his mouth and teeth. He actually had some bad teeth removed two days ago but he is still no eating.
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@tanza Thanks, Fanconi is typically in younger dogs, the Vet did not think it was an issue as his urine, blood and ultrasound looked ok.
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@sakuhn62 I hope that is not the case with our Moe. Blood test seemed to indicate the pancreas was okay but I might need to ask for a second opinion on the ultrasound as the Vet did it (for free) while doing the tooth extraction but admitted he was not the expert in that area.
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@ttobler - Not true, Fanconi is late onset, from age 5 to 10 typically or older, always good to rule out anything, but I know of Basenjis with Fanconi at your Basenjis age. Please have urine checked for sugar if has not been DNA for Fanconi.... or the sire/dam or sugar in the blood which would mean Diabetes. You can check out those results at www.ofa.org and you would need the registered name of the sire/dam or registration number for Fanconi testing and results, if from the sire/dam, either would need to be clear, clear or clear, carrier, could be carrier, affected and still be just a carrier, worth checking out. And seems to me like you might need a specialist. Have you talked to the breeder?
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@tanza - Thank you for the correction, I was not aware it could impact them at a later age. That said, we were able to collect some urine and have it sent out for testing, the results came back clean. He is a rescue, we got him from the Austin Basenji rescue "BRAT".. and I also reached out to them. Lastly, I will likely schedule some time with an internal medicine specialist nothing seems to work. He will only eat a very tiny amount and then turn his nose.
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@sakuhn62 I am real sorry to hear that, hard to lose a family member.
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@ttobler - your Vet is able to test urine on the spot for Fanconi. Just need to use test strips used to detect sugar in the urine? Of course doing the DNA test is the best. You order the cheek swabs at www.ofa.org. You do the cheek swab and send it back to OFA. They report the results. Here is a link about Fanconi and testing at BCOA. https://basenji.org/index.php/about-basenjis/basenji-health
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@tanza said in No longer eating:
DNA test is the best. You order the cheek swabs at www.ofa.org. You do the cheek swab and send it back to OFA. They report the results. Here is a link about Fanconi and testing at BCOA. https://basenji.org/index.php/about-basenjis/basenji-health
Come to think of it - its Christmas time - and what better present to give your Basenji - ALL of you on this forum with untested dogs - a Fanconi test ?
The peace of mind which comes from testing is well worth the price of $65.
Pat has given you the link - use it and get those pets tested !
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What antibiotics is he on or was he given when his teeth were removed? I've had some stop eating when given certain antibiotics. Did they take dental x-rays? One of our fosters had an abscess show up on x-ray that was not visible even when the b was anesthetized for a dental. Has bloodwork been repeated after surgery?
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@flbasenji hue was given an injection of Cefovecin since we are not able to give him anything oral. They did take x-rays and unfortunately he was not eating before getting the teeth removed. We thought that could be part of the problem. Blood work has not been repeated yet, but may come back into play. Dropped him off at an internal medicine specialist this morning.
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@ttobler
Hope everything turns out well. Keep us posted.
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@ttobler Hoping for the best today. Good thoughts coming your way.
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Thanks all, unfortunately nothing solid to share. Ultrasound showed thickening on the first part of the small intestine. Will have endoscopy tomorrow endoscopy tomorrow wit hopes of understanding where/what the issue is and best path forward.
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Fingers tightly crossed that they find something and can help him.
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Thank you all for the well wishes. Good news he is recovering after the endoscopy and has woken up, though a little on the cold side so will need to wait a few hours to see if he can come home. Small intestine is inflamed and biopsy's were taken. Unfortunately results for biopsy will not be in until week after next, but he should be coming home tonight. Dr believed it is IBD (Inflammatory bowel disease) and putting him on steroids, prednisone, anti nausea and anti diarrhea...lord help me with the meds, hope this "pill gun" she offered works. Has anyone had to use one with their Basenji?
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@ttobler The one and only time doodle needed regular meds: I put the pill inside a fingertip full of peanut butter. Of course, now doodle thinks peanut butter is nirvana, but she took all of her pills!
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@ttobler Yes. I had a bitch who didn't need a vet at all until she was almost 6 years old. Then the kibble we used was discontinued. We found what we thought was similar but one girl started being very sick, not eating, but chewing grass and throwing up etc. We jumped through all the hoops until finally an endoscopy revealed Irritable Bowel Syndrone. The lining of her stomach was red, raw and bleeding. No wonder she ate so much grass to try to get rid of the pain and irritation in her tum !
She was put on Budesonide. One a day. And given a grain-free diet. I tried feeding her that and leaving the others on their normal kibble but it was chaos. We had 5 Basenjis at the time. So all the pack went on to the grain-free and I have stuck with it ever since !
After a while she seemed to be really on the road to recovery and the vets left it to me to control the dosage of Budesonide. I cut her to every other day and then to three times a week. If I caught her eating grass, she went back on one a day for a week or so.
This way we kept her going, and enjoying life, for another 7 years.
I am sure you can find the USA equivalent of Budesonide. Good luck !
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@ttobler But I see your query was not about IBS but shooting pills down - - -
Cottage cheese, yoghurt (which helps the stomach anyway). They get too canny if you bury it in their food and you find an empty pan with pills licked clean and sticking to the bottom.
Basically anything they can't resist helps the medicine go down.
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@zande Thanks for the tip on IBS, will ask the Dr their thoughts on the meds after I do some research myself. I gave up on the pills, tried for 20-25 min this morning and the little bugger just pockets them in his mouth and eventually spits them back out. The antibiotics are in liquid form, so a non issues. I am having the pharmacy compound the steroids into a liquid form today. When he came back last night from the procedure, he was vey hungry and eating. We limited the amount as he has not had full meal in several weeks, but this morning he was no longer hungry. They gave him a steroid shot yesterday before I brought him hope so have high hopes that once we get him on some again he will at least eat.
