Hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.
Happy 15th Birthday Alex!
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Happy 15th Alex!
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Alexander of Wacella - it seems like just yesterday when I picked up this little 9 week old furball. He's gotten a little hard of hearing, a little arthritis and some dementia related pacing but he's still going strong.
Here's a few shots of his nightly 30 minutes of pacing around the livingroom.
That is great… love these old kids... and I can relate with 2 16+, one that will be 15 in February and a newly turned 13 yr old... All of mine but the 13 yr old are deaf... and have some arthritis, especially my boy.... but knock on wood not a bit of dementia...
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Happy Birthday Alex!! He is so cute!!
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Happy Birthday Alex! Gosh he looks so fit & trim. Very handsome boy!
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Happy Birf Day!
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Happy Birthday Alex! Gosh he looks so fit & trim. Very handsome boy!
I wish he was a little less trim. I've had trouble keeping weight on him most of his life. He'd go through cycles where he was perfect weight, but now it's hard to keep any weight on him at all. He's pretty ribby, and his backbone/hips protrude a bit too. Is this common with older Basenjis? Seems like it's gotten worse since his playmate died a couple months back. Most of his day consists of sleeping, mixed in with an hour or two of hard core pacing.
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You know there is medication for his pacing… And mine are in really good weigh, here is a picture of my boy on his 16th birthday last September
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Happy Happy Birthday to Alex. How lucky he is to have such a caring parent.
I had the same trouble keeping weight on Max who lived until 16. I think this may be common with older dogs. i found some bottled dog food gravy in different flavors that would help entice him to eat. And I would try adding different things to his regular dog food to get him to eat more. He also loved chicken flavored baby food–he even ate that when he was going through kidney failure at the end. For the dementia, there is a medication they can be given now to help with this. This helps with the pacing and wandering around the house.
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But then some do just age differently…. so it could be that is just him....
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I've tried the medication for dementia for about 6 months. Tried two different doses without much effect. He finally figured out that I was giving him pills in his cheese treats, and quit eating them altogether. After failing to find anyway to get him to take the pills I decided to see what would happen if I just quit them. Turns out he actually seemed to improve a bit WITHOUT the medication.
While he was on the medication he would never come up to anyone to be pet; just kind of wandered around oblivious to people in the house. Now that he's off of it, he still paces but will come up top people and let them pet him for a bit before he continues his wandering.
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Happy birthday a couple days late. Still looking good!
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We have a very elderly poople who refused to eat much for years. It turns out that her teeth were so bad that 16 had to be pulled. After that she now eats with gusto.
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Happy 15th birthday, Alex! He looks quite good for his age. I think the older ones just have to be monitored a bit more closely for changes in their weight. My Marco is probably about 15 or 16 and I have to consistently feed him more than my other Bs to keep him in good weight. Thank goodness he's a hearty eater and will finish whatever I put in front of him 98% of the time.
Pat, your guy looks excellent for 16! He looks much younger. Careful breeding sure makes a big difference. No one who sees Ellie believes me when I say she's 12.
