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Should I Do PK Test?

Basenji Health Issues & Questions
  • I had never really heard much about this before, but we're just sorting out the Paperwork for PRA testing two of our labs and the company who do the test list a PK Deficiency test for Basenjis.

    It is only $80 so not expensive, but just wanted some ideas from other owners as to whether it is a good thing to have done? Generally i think if there is a health test available you should do it, but it would involve a blood test which is more invasive and painful than a fanconi cheek swab so wanted some more input please :)

  • It never hurts to do testing… this is a recessive gene and this is a direct test, so offspring can be called "clear" by parents. So really if you know that parents or grandparents have been tested clear, your girl will be clear. You would just need to research and verify that she comes from clear.

  • I have the same idea Maya.

    I have heard that there are very few carriers left in the world, and that the disease appears to have nearly been erradicated, BUT, to my way of thinking, if there are even a few carriers left in the world, then Im sure I would be the "lucky" one who would put carrier to carrier, so testing for me was VERY important…

    Im actually a bit anal about testing anyway :D

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    That is a huge relief about the cheek swab…She absolutely HATED having her blood drawn and has been mistrustful of the vet and vet techs ever since. I didn't not realize that there were many errors in the original test. I stopped frequenting this forum shortly after I had her test done and haven't really heard anything from the basenji world until I got the e-mail. I will definitely get this re-test done as soon as possible and will pick up some strips tomorrow so I can start testing her urine. Thankfully she has not been showing any signs of poor health and has always done well on checkups.
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    Kathy, I sure didn't mean to indicate it isn't a godsend or fantastic! Of course it is. I just meant… well as the Arabs say, Trust in G-d but tie your camel. Get the testing, use it to help guide breeding, retest if necessary, but keep doing the strip test. It's an easy if annoying process that protects your dog against testing errors or human errors.
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    The fanconi test needs to be ordered from the OFA website, https://secure.offa.org/cart.html Have you talked to Nilo's breeder about health testing. Without pedigree information his tests alone don't provide a very complete picture since disorders like PRA are late onset.
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    @AC~Akeyla: I was wondering when we should have our 1 year old B's checked for Fanconi? For some reason I thought they had to be a certain age. And what is the best way to go about getting them tested? And you are most likely thinking of the urine test strips, which was the only way to detect Fanconi before the DNA Test that is now widely used. Since Fanconi is a late onset, usually it was recommended that Basenjis be strip test with urine test strips beginning no later then age 3 (and tested once a month, every month). If you have a Basenji that DNA tests for Affected, then you still will need to start testing them monthly no later then age 3.
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    @etzbseder: Thanks, I've seen that before, but forgot about it. After looking at that, it shows that my answer would be: Clear pups ONLY means that neither parent is affected, and that does not change with multiple clear pups. The only thing that shows any determination of the parents is a test of the parent themselves (or if their grandparents are clear). correct. The more clear pups (with no affecteds or carriers) you had from the breeding of the same two animals, the more LIKELY it is that the parents are clear…but it certainly would not be a for sure.
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    And remember everyone, they really do go bad, so please do not use them past the date….. if there are some of you that live close or even you could do it by mail, you might think about sharing the strips instead of just tossing them