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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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    You do not need the full strips unless you are checking for other things. Just make sure you get the strips that test for glucose not ketones! You can buy Bayer Diastix or Bayer Clinistix for strictly glucose urine testing. Jennifer
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    And chances are that your vet will tell you that there is no test. Just because it has been available for nearly two years does not mean that they know it is now here. You can do the fanconi tests without seeing a vet at all. Finger's crossed both your Bs come back NOT affected.
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    Dog owners weighing the cost of titers against the seemingly lower cost of a possibly redundant booster should consider the estimated numbers of adverse reactions to immunization and the cost of treating an adverse reaction. Time Out: Rabies Researchers Assess New, Long-lasting Vaccine NEWStat, American Animal Hospital Association June 25, 2008 http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/aaha2/issues/2008-06-25/index.html "A rabies vaccine and vaccination schedule with a seven year DOI will reduce the number of animals that develop adverse reactions following immunization, which is currently estimated to be 1-3% of the population." Based on the estimate of "…more than 72 million pet dogs in the U.S." from the American Veterinary Medical Association U.S. Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook (2007 Edition)http://www.avma.org/reference/marketstats/sourcebook.asp, the currently estimate 1-3% of the population adversely reacting to vaccination translates into between 720,000 and 2,160,000 dogs.
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    @dmcarty: re: puppy mills and testing only one parent - I know for a FACT that at one place the sire of several years of litters was not the sire - it was a male who had good papers so his name was listed even though he was DEAD. One of the PM's males was the sire of several litters attributed to this OTHER dog. (I happen to know the person who owned the substitute sire) So it is unfortunate but the testing will only be as ethical as those who provide information to the test. Geez I hate to even say that but I am afraid that it's true. No doubt about that… and another reason to only look at AKC who has a DNA parentage program for high volume breeders...