Basenji without spunk - very sick, pls read

[Mantis]

My little Beta is a tri basenji. She is about 4 and is a rescue from a puppy mill. I have had her for about 3 years now. We have been at the vet all week and her symptoms are:

depression
1/2 appetite
doesnt want to pee or poop
shaking (as if she were cold after a bath) in her chest
loud gassy sounds coming from her belly
the shaking and gas will last about 15 minutes
does not want to move
tender belly
doesnt want to walk
will growl at my other basenji
diarhea when pooping, quantity is normal

obviously she is displaying extreme pain and discomfort.

her fecal came back clean- suspected giardia at first
both my basenjis get giardia easily
her bloodwork and urine came back normal
her protein levels were a bit high but the doc said not enough to consider it as anything critical

we compared her urinalysis to a urinalysis she had 3 months ago
3 months ago, both basenjis had giardia and beta displayed the shaking behavior which is unsual and i had them do the urinalysis becuase i couldnt believe the giardia was causing her that much pain…the tests came back normal-doctors said no fanconi

now my other b is normal

and beta is bad

the xray showed an undefined area around the pancreas which concerned the doctors

they did an ultrasound and said the pancreas/ liver seemed larger than they like to see and that the gall bladder was smooth but appeared thick and the duct area appeared thick as well

now beta is coughing and sounds like she has liquid in her lung

she is having trouble keeping her eyes open and looks a bit swolen in her face

she was on an iv yesterday for fluids and antibiotics and nausea which seemed to help while she was hooked up

this morning the symptoms are back and she has the new cough and trouble keeping her eyes open

i am having her xrays from a few months ago sent in today for the doctors to compare and will take her back in to be readmitted for the day

i did research last night and came up with two diseases in basenjis that might be possible explanations

IPSID Immnoproliferative small intestinal disease, malabsorption, immunoproliferative enteropathy of basenjis

and

cholangio hepatitis

the doctor will be looking into these today and getting back with me.

does anyone have any experience with these symptoms in their b's? or know about the two diseases? or have other suggestions?

she has a catheter in and was ripping it out in the true basenji fashion so they had an ecollar on her. they dont observe over night, so i brought her home. i am home from work today to monitor her without the collar so she can be comfortable. we will head back in around lunch time

she is currently at oakhurst vet which has a staff of doctors that review all cases together. i am comfortable with the vet and agree with everything they have done so far.

although they are vet teachers and have a great practice i am expecting that they dont know basenjis behaviors like we do. any input you guys have would be great. i am looking for possible ideas for the doctors to consider instead of masking the symptoms with antibiotics.

betsey

[Quercus]

Gee, Betsey, I wish I had some ideas for you. I sure hope they find answer for you, poor thing sounds in bad shape.

As far as IPSID, I don't know for sure, but I thought the onset of this weas much earlier? And I don't know if she would have all the other symptoms, swelling eyes, cough with that. I thought they kind of just waste away.

Anyhow, best of luck, prayers on the way…

[Mantis]

i was told that the shaking and gassy sounds are typical of gall bladder symptoms….

she had the same symptoms 3 months ago, but were mixed with the giardia...and the symptoms were just called her reaction to pain

as she lays with caesar next to me on the couch she seems to be getting worse....

she is coughing more which just started last night. and just looks like she is struggling. although she is sleeping, she physically is active.....

the doctor should be in now, so i will be taking her in shortly....

[jys1011]

Betsey

lots of prayers & hugs for Beta. I do hope they find out what's wrong with her soon. This must be an awful time.

[Duke]

Glad you are taking good care of your little Beta. I don't have any experience with Basenji diseases, but I wonder if the symptoms might be related to a poison - something toxic she got into? Just pressing for other ideas. Hope the vets get on the right track for Beta soon.

[nala121498]

My thoughts are prayers go out to Beta. Please keep us posted.

[Mantis]

she is back at the vet for the day. she is having more blood work and xrays. the doctor thinks the hepatitis disease may fit her symptoms. they will be checking her blood for a drop in protein. they will call with the results…..

[Basenji_Boy]

@Mantis:

she is back at the vet for the day. she is having more blood work and xrays. the doctor thinks the hepatitis disease may fit her symptoms. they will be checking her blood for a drop in protein. they will call with the results…..

Please keep us posted on the results and how things are going.

[seko]

I had a puppy with IPSID, not eating and diarhea (muccus and blood) where the symptoms.
No shaking, no pain and he could be quite lively at times .

[Mantis]

so, no message from the vet yet today…..here is a pic of my red Caesar loving on sick Beta this morning....

[Mantis]

I picked Beta up this eve and she is still swollen. All four feet are pink. They did bloodwork for the second time and it came back normal. They did a chest xray and she has an inflamed area in her chest but the lungs look okay. So they have two sets of bloodwork and a recent urinalysis and xrays to compare to the xrays from september. we thought the swelling that i was seeing this morning was from the iv antibiotics. so today they changed the antibiotics and she still appears to be swollen on her jowels and feet. Her eyes are kinda swollen closed or she is having a hard time keeping them open. They gave her pain meds and a nausea shot before i picked her up so she would sleep the whole night. They took out the catheter so the swelling of that foot (worst) would go down and she could sleep without the e collar. she is zonked out beside me right now. she devoured her food like she did yesterday and thank god for that. she is still peeing and pooping and eating upon request. she was mobile and reacted to the nurses better today, but still doesnt want to walk around. she is still shaking, coughing, and has the severe gas….

Please keep the feedback coming! I appreciate all of the advice.

Beta will be at work with me tomorrow. We will see how she does in the morning when the meds wear off. If she continues to show the same symptoms tomorrow without improvement we will have a internalist come in and do an ultrasound. all of the xrays were free of spots or cysts and only showed areas that appeared to be irritated or lacked definition.

Thanks Again, Betsey

[youngandtired]

So sorry to hear your baby is so sick, I would be on top of it just like you seem to be. I will pray for you and her, please keep us posted. Ceasar is just the sweetest thing to be loving on Beta, I am sure he can sence that something is wrong.

[Bandit]

Awww (((((hugs))))) that is just the best pic…..

[nala121498]

I'm sending healthy vibes your way, Beta. The picture is just so sweet. I have a tear just seeing it! Please keep us posted on how all is going.
Lots of (((healing hugs))) coming your way too.

[Mantis]

well, Beta has been with me at work all morning. It seems that the pain med that should have lasted 12 hrs seems to have lingered in her system this morning. she isnt displaying the shakes or the gassy sounds like before.

she has aquired two ulcer spots on her gums about her canine teeth.

she is walking around a bit and has slept most of the day. i am still giving her the antibiotics.

she still is a no personality basenji except for the doe eyes. she is having trouble keeping her eyes open and appears to be calmer. here is a picture of her 3 days ago, and today at my desk. you can see the strange change in her face. last night it was swollen a bit.

all she is doing is sleeping. she did have the coughing this morning that i havent heard all day.

the doctor suggests we do the ultrasound (which i am all about ) since beta is still not perky. we want to avoid another episode of this that could be worse next time.

i wonder what it is?

betsey

[jys1011]

Oh my gosh Betsey I'm in tears over your sick Beta…lots & lots of hugs & prayers for you both. This must be so incredibly difficult & frustrating to NOT Know what the heck it is!

Please hang in there & know that we're all pulling for you both.

[spitfirekrl1]

Ugh, that is so sad. On top of the fact that it's hard to see your babies sick it's even worse when you don't know what's wrong and how to fix it. I hope all is well for you both.

[Mantis]

Weird is right. She is better now that she is off of the IV fluids and antibiotics. She is moving about freely at the house now and she even ran a few times with Caesar in the yard. She had just eaten and received her antibiotic. After running she sat down next to me as if in pain. All of her white areas were bright pink.

I am wondering if the antibiotic that i have been giver her twice a day is causing the reaction…i will watch her tomorrow when she gets her next dose to see if that is what is causing the redness....it's gone now and she seems okay......

[Mantis]

Day 8, Friday morning. Beta woke this morning by coughing pretty hard. Whatever is in there now sounds thicker. She is trying to cough it out. Her xray 2 days ago showed nothing in her lungs. I will have them check again today.

this morning is the best time to check her because she has the least amount of meds in her system. she is shaking again and the gassy sounds are back.she is bright pink also, so i am ruling out the atibiotic that she gets twice a day. the second antibiotic she gets once a day didnt appear to make her pink either. it could just be her running a bit in the yard.

her eyes seem a bit swollen again.

the plan is to take her to an internist on tues for an ultrasound. since the vet is closed on sun and half day on sat, i am taking her back for observation today.

lets hope she does okay over the weekend. this is so frustrating. hopefully all of this text will help someone else out down the road.

[Mantis]

bad news. Beta was wheezing the whole ride to the vet. When we got to the vet she couldnt sit down and was hover sitting. She was shaking and her stomach was lurching. The vet found that she was tender around her neck and shoulder area. She said that Beta's intestines were moving so much it felt similar to dogs with puppies. Then, Beta started crying…..oh, there is nothing compared to a basenji crying....a sitting position seems to be the only way she can get comfortable...

the shaking, gassy sounds, stomach lurching episode didnt seem to stop this morning. before it was about 10-15 minutes and happeded maybe 3-4 x in a day. now it is about 4x while i was with her in the vet room with her. She is at the vet and that is the best I can do.

here is a pic of beta this morning before the attack or episode started, so cute