Soon to be Basenji Owner
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No, treatment of fanconi is not terribly expensive, but it does add up. I did the math and it was costing about $500/year around here for basic maintenance. That includes the cost of meds bought in bulk for a year (at minimum doses) as well as 6 month vet/lab workups at a very reasonable country vet. The use of the blood gas machine was $100 alone because I had to do it at a hospital, but I didn't have to do it long enough to try to find cheaper alternatives. I've never looked into it really, what do you all pay for blood gases?
This of course doesn't include things like vet trips/meds for UTIs, any special food requirements, etc.
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I too will chime in here; there are several responsible breeders in the Phoenix and Tucson areas. There really is no reason not to test your breeding stock - the cost is not really prohibitive and is even less now that a cheek swab can be done so that shipping blood is not necessary. I also know that the Basenji Fanciers of Greater Phoenix has held at 2 or 3 blood draw clinics so that their members could have their dogs tested, so the opportunity has certainly been there for the breeder to test. You might try going to their website to find referrals to local breeders.
That said, I do want to add a little note about Fanconi. We currently have 3 affected dogs, and the cost of treatment and the protocol is NOT extremely expensive. The highest number of pills we give per day to an individual dog is 11 - 5 sodium bicarbonates twice per day and 1 vitamin. And yes, while some dogs do not respond to the protocol, the vast majority of them do, and live a normal lifestyle and life span. Nevertheless, if we can prevent this from ever happening, we absolutely owe it to our beloved breed to do so.
Terry
Well said Terry! Listen to the voice of experience… and what this horrible affliction can do...
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My issue is that I had a b that wouldn't take the pills with anything, so we ended up trying to put them down the dog.
Often, he would just throw them up.
Knowing they would keep him alive if the didn't take them and seeing the misery we caused him, by trying to get them into him….well, I don't want anyone to go through that! -
I have a couple of concerns here - 1 you were told the Grandparents were 'free of fanconi' and the parents were not old enough to test. Now you have seen that they are not listed on the OFFA site and others have said that the test can be done on 2 week old puppies.
The question here is that the relationship that you have with your breeder is perhaps the most important connection that you can have in your journey with basenjis - I'm reminded of that as today I opened a Christmas card from the breeder/mentor of my second basenjis CH Maikai's Here's the Beef. I met them in 1983. Kathy helped me so much in learning how to show, helping me select a stud dog - helping raise and place puppies - every dumb question I had about basenji behavior - she helped me through it.
I try to have that kind of relationship with those who have a dog from me. I always have told them that they need to make sure that they like me as well as the dog because we are a package.
That said - the breeders of your potential puppy has told you a lie. They clearly either did it on purpose - OR because they didn't know - in either case - will they be there for you to give you advice that is specific to their lines? And can you believe it?
Obviously your decision but - with that big a red flag - I know what I would do.
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Hi everyone,
I just found this forum. I have had my 2 basenji's for 3 years coming this dec 29th. They are brother/sister. We are located here in peoria, az. They are a handful especially the male who gets into everything that is not nailed down.We did all the research and new what we were getting into, that why we have 2. A tired basenji is a good banenji. We take them to the "bark park" every weekend. Its their time to meet and greet everyone.
Good luck one your pup..take lots of pictures. We have taken ours to Petsmart for the professional pictures every year. It takes about 1 hour until they get the right shot. My male is very active and moves alot.
Right now the little girl has valley fever we are trying to get her tiger count down, but next year I want to add to our family, (if the male alowes it). lol:)
