Wider Hips / Walk? (Video Link)
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Agree with tanza that the hernia is common and not a big deal to fix if you feel the need (e.g. this would be elective). Assessing hips in young dogs is difficult, which is why officially I think you need to wait for a year. You can make an earlier guess at a young age with an Ortolani test, but that's only for dysplasia and is more about proclivities than anything. At six months or so the guess is better but it's still a guess. If you vet put your dog on her back and manipulated her legs that would be the test. (In any event no issue of being a pre-existing condition).
Seems like your vet gave good advice. Hopefully the hips will turn out not to be an issue.
Not a fan of getting a pup at 8 weeks or pet insurance but those are different stories. LOL
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Sooo I just got back from obtaining a 2nd opinion, the vet did a puppy wellness check on her.
I got mixed feelings from them also, but as far as her hips, stance, walk or what he called GIRTH? she is way to young to tell. That seems like a little better news.
I still want to post something once I can for you guys to see. Especially since I had to tell this new vet what kinda breed she is, doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, and the assistant has trouble weighing her. -
Its always best to choose a Vet who knows Basenjis but I still find I have had to 'train' them over the years so they get the finer points -
Hernias can easily be fixed but mostly they close in the end and all you see is a fatty lump. No harm at all.
8 weeks is very young to move a pup from Mom's care and put her into the wide, wide world. I agree with others there is not much point in investigating for displasia or anything else for at least 6 - 9 months.
But in the meantime, you need to talk to your breeder and find out if there is any problems in the line. Did you get to see the parents - and if so, did you notice any problems ? In any case you breeder needs to become involved because if there IS a structural problem in your pup's rear assembly, he/she will need to take care not to repeat it in future pairings.
Good luck !
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Okay, first, get the pet insurance. If this puppy has an issue, insurance can pay for itself. A friend imported a chow pup from show breeders. The rest of the litter (most also here in US) are great. Her vet bills in 2 years were over $20,000 and her insurance paid nearly every bit of it.
Then, give it a couple of months at least, then perhaps consider Penn Hip. I prefer OFA, but if your pups hips are that lax at this point, Penn Hip can be done at 16 wks. I personally would wait til 6 mos and get a vet who is very experienced in OFA to check the hips.
In the meantime, please check your contract with the breeder to see if there is a refund, help with surgery or what in case of genetic issues. Get the sire and dam's names and/or AKC reg numbers and go check to see if the parents are tested, previous pup, other dogs from the kennel. No matter how much you like a breeder, see the results on the official pages for yourself. A responsible breeder is proud of you seeing all they have done.
Finally, some bit a caution. Basenji people tend to be nonchalant about umbilical hernias. First, if they are small, they do appear to "close off." In reality, many vets feel that the opening is still there, just tiny enough to seem closed. Read up some, then make a decision on whether you want it surgically closed just in case. My own bias, no fact to support it, is that if it's that small, it's never going to be a problem. But you should be aware. The other issue is that while most are small, if your pup's doesn't get smaller, gets larger, bulges...that can be anything from a medical concern to life and death emergency. If it is large enough, some of the intestines can slide through, get trapped, and cut off blood flow. So if it is small, don't fixate, but please keep an eye on it.
