Skip to content

Hello and Help

Member Introductions
  • Hello Basenji World. We're new to BRAT but have been owned by two basenjis for eight years. We raised Cairo, tri-female-drama queen, from a puppy; and we adopted Snickers, red-male-laid-back-handsome-silent-guy. Both of course are as wonderful as every other basenji.

    If anyone has information about thyroid levels in basenjis, I would appreciate your help. Last week the kids had their annual check up and the TT4 thyroid test results on Snickers shows his level at .5, which indicates hypothyroidism. The vet says the normal range is 8-40. I've heard that b's thyroid levels run lower than other breeds. He is asymptomatic of the disease.

    Does anyone have experience in this area?

    Thank you.

  • @Roscoe:

    Hello Basenji World. We're new to BRAT but have been owned by two basenjis for eight years. We raised Cairo, tri-female-drama queen, from a puppy; and we adopted Snickers, red-male-laid-back-handsome-silent-guy. Both of course are as wonderful as every other basenji.

    If anyone has information about thyroid levels in basenjis, I would appreciate your help. Last week the kids had their annual check up and the TT4 thyroid test results on Snickers shows his level at .5, which indicates hypothyroidism. The vet says the normal range is 8-40. I've heard that b's thyroid levels run lower than other breeds. He is asymptomatic of the disease.

    Does anyone have experience in this area?

    Thank you.

    Low Thyroid is not uncommon in Basenjis… I would bet that over 50% of them have hypothyrodidism but it is very easily treated with Soloxine... and requires one or two pills twice daily.. cost is very reasonable also... if you get them by the bottle of 1000 it is under 60.00. And if you vet gives you the prescription you can order yourself... Please also, do not use anything but the real thing.... genetric has shown a big differnce to Soloxine. Also, really the thyroid should be checked by doing a full thyroid panel that is totally separate from the T4 that is usually run by a regular blood test. If I were you, I would ask your Vet on both your Basenjis to pull the blood and send out for the full panel.

    Basenjis when even at the low end of "normal" is too low and needs meds. Also we find that almost all that have been spayed/neutered become low thyroid.

    Did your Vet give you the meds?

  • Thank you Tanza for your reply. A full work up was done on Snickers at the vet's urging and the meds came from his office. The label identifies the the medication as "Thyroid" but doesn't identify the name. The dosage is one pill twice a day for the first month. Snicks will be re-tested at that time.
    I appreciate your help.

  • @Roscoe:

    Thank you Tanza for your reply. A full work up was done on Snickers at the vet's urging and the meds came from his office. The label identifies the the medication as "Thyroid" but doesn't identify the name. The dosage is one pill twice a day for the first month. Snicks will be re-tested at that time.
    I appreciate your help.

    Please find out the name of the Meds… It really does make a difference... I was using the generic stuff for a while...but once I insisted on the "real" stuff, Soloxine... what a difference.... and that is about the normal dose... 1 pill 2x's daily.......

  • Welcome to the site. This group is full of information and support.

  • If you do need to have your Bs go on thyroid, get it from Omaha Vaccine. It's very cheap at about .02/tab compared to the vet at $1/tablet. That's where I got mine. They will need your vets OK for the prescription. www.omahavaccine.com

  • @nobarkus:

    If you do need to have your Bs go on thyroid, get it from Omaha Vaccine. It's very cheap at about .02/tab compared to the vet at $1/tablet. That's where I got mine. They will need your vets OK for the prescription. www.omahavaccine.com

    Both my german shepherd mix (spayed) and B (neutered) were on soloxine for many years. I got it very reasonably priced from my vet–it wasn't $1/tablet--are you sure it was that expensive? Tyler and Zoey had their thyroids tested, and both are in normal range at this time. My other two were probably middle aged when they had to start thyroid pills. I never used a generic--only soloxine--and it seemed to work fine--I'd get their thyroids tested periodically--but the dose never needed to be adjusted for them.

8/8

2 Jul 2007, 22:12

Suggested Topics

  • Help

    Member Introductions 7 Mar 2012, 11:44
    0 Votes
    16 Posts
    5k Views
    jeannieJ, is your dog tattooed? You might at least be able to find out something about him if he is. Breeding is not a good idea unless you are experienced, know all about the breed's history and health concerns, and are willing to be responsible for any resulting puppies for the rest of their lives!
  • Hello

    Member Introductions 19 Oct 2010, 01:03
    0 Votes
    10 Posts
    3k Views
    Big hugs to you for adopting an older basenji. My heart gets broken when I see the senior b's on the BRAT web page. :( So give Pippi a hug for me.
  • Help Help Help

    Member Introductions 6 Aug 2008, 14:51
    0 Votes
    13 Posts
    3k Views
    Wondering how your two are taking to each other now. We've had Bongo for just over 3 weeks - seems like so much longer - and he and Fiji are now a real team. Wish I'd had the camera handy last night when they were sleeping on the couch with Bongo draped over Fiji. (The first week they'd share the couch but at far opposite ends.) They walk together, run together and share toys and bowls. She still puts him in his place if he messes with her crate, or crosses some other line that only the b's know and understand, but he takes it like a dog. I'm actually surprised, and thrilled of course, that they bonded so quickly. How are yours coming along?
  • Hello

    Member Introductions 25 Jun 2008, 03:21
    0 Votes
    4 Posts
    1k Views
    Welcome, from another Ohioan. We are on the north side of columbus and have 1 r/w boy. We have occasionaly taken him to the Westerville dog park but his behavior has not be great lately. We have cut back. We also help BRAT transport and foster. Great to have more B's in Ohio. I see so few of them in Columbus.
  • Hello

    Member Introductions 2 May 2008, 10:51
    0 Votes
    7 Posts
    2k Views
    Hi Kiro, Welcome our neck of the woods. I live just a bit past Emmittsburg in PA so I'm not too far. The Mid-Atlantic Basenji Club meets at the Carroll County Agricultural Center right there in Westminster. Our next meeting is 1 June and there will also be a spring fun match that same day. It starts at 0900. There is a Yahoo group for the club that has info about the event. It's fun and games. It's really neat to see so many basenjis in one place. Hope you can make it. It's a nice club to belong to. Karen
  • Hello

    Member Introductions 29 Oct 2007, 03:06
    0 Votes
    9 Posts
    3k Views
    Dave hello, I also am new to this site. I had my frist Basenji for sixteen years and lost her last year. I could only go for about a month before getting my next Basenji. I really love this breed I have two now. Good luck in your search for your next Basenji.