2 year old male dropping weight fast…

[Patty]

Tanza & Ivoss,
I'm not sure about this but could it be IPSID? I've never had it but I do know of a whole litter that died of it. A friend had a basenji with it - it mainly occurs under forms ofstress with diarrhoea and loss of weight. After this little boy had been re-homed to a very calm home and careful feeder he has only had one occurrence and his weight has improved.

[tanza]

@Patty:

Tanza & Ivoss,
I'm not sure about this but could it be IPSID? I've never had it but I do know of a whole litter that died of it. A friend had a basenji with it - it mainly occurs under forms ofstress with diarrhoea and loss of weight. After this little boy had been re-homed to a very calm home and careful feeder he has only had one occurrence and his weight has improved.

Since according to the owner, his stool is normal, I would guess maybe not, but anything is possible. But also could be a different kind of inflammatory bowel disease.

[MacPack]

Where in Florida are you? We are in the Tampa area. I agree that thorough testing is good, but dogs with food allergies have to change occasionally as they become sensitive to whatever they are eating. That said, I once had 3 brothers and one would periodically lose weight, we would vet and check out, never any issues, just "high strung" and hard to keep weight on. In the fall when females in the neighborhood were in heat is when it was worst! He never got so that his hips looked really bony, though.

Good luck with finding a cause and getting some meat back on your boy.

[sharronhurlbut]

I hope you can get something from the vet to help you get your boy back to where he should be.
I know we will all be here to support you.

[MacPack]

Not sure if there is a recipe for "satin balls" on this forum, Basenji Companions site has it I think. Guaranteed to put weight on them!

[MacPack]

Found the recipe for Satin Balls under the Feeding forum:

Satin Balls work great (for weight gaining and as random treats):

5 pounds ground meat
5 cups Total whole grain cereal
5 cups oats (slow cooking type)
2? cups raw wheat germ
? cup oil
? cup molasses
6 egg yolks
5 packets gelatin
2 ? tablespoons Solid Gold Seameal supplement
Mix all ingredients together thoroughly like you would a meatloaf.
Roll into balls no larger than 1 inch diameter.
Divide into at least 6 separate containers or bags. Freeze. Thaw as needed for feeding

here's a link that describes them
http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition…atinballs.html

and a link for different variations of Satin Ball Receipies
http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition…tinballs2.html

[tanza]

While that might be a good thing (Satin Balls) I would have a Vet check up first

[LexiampDCsmom]

Thanks everyone for your support and feedback. I've posted an album with pictures of DC taken tonight and around the first of the year. It's so much more noticeable in the pictures… Currently he is eating like a champion and sis is waiting her turn. They won't eat in their crates. They only go in them when we are not home. Otherwise, they are under our feet or lying in our laps... I'll let you know what the vet says tomorrow. I'm hoping it's just a change in diet. MacPac thank you for the receipe, sounds like a good treat for them.. We live in Bradenton. The breeder we got DC from was Brett Schenck in Starke FL. I found the names and reg #'s of is sire and dam. I'll check those out tomorrow.

[tanza]

Wow, he really is thin…. Hope that the Vet can run blood work to rule out anything serious....

[renaultf1]

Please let us know what the vet says - he is really skinny.

[nobarkus]

When I adopted Ringo in 1994 he was just like DC. He weighed 19lbs with ribs showing. They were giving him Pancrezyme in his food which I continued the rest of his life. He gained weight after about 4 months as he was fed junky dry Pedigree and I switched to Sold Gold dry. He didn't have a pancreas problem per the vet but the pancrezyme seemed to work. It may have been Malobsorption or some digestive disorder.

[LexiampDCsmom]

he really is skinny and he dropped it fast. I dropped him off this morning with a list of what everyone said on here and asked the vet to run whatever test he needed to do because I didn't want to have to bring him back. He was so upset just getting him there and then he tried to get out of the door when we put him on the scale. He weighed in at 20.4 lbs I had to laugh though because the vet office has a cat as a " Mascot" and DC is never around cats. The vet tech let go of the lead and he was gone after that cat..LOL. and the look on his face was like, " What? What'd I do??" lol… I will let you know as soon as I hear. Doc had to fit him in between surgeries today so could be afternoon until i hear anything... i'm on pins and needles waiting! Thanks for the support ya'll!

[Basenjimamma]

He sure is pretty, but yes very skinny..
Otis has been skinny too, but not like this..he is finally getting more weight on him..
Please keep us updated and yes Satin Balls are a favorite at our house..both Moses and Otis love'em and eat them often…

[LexiampDCsmom]

I just tried to look up his sire and dam and guess what? Nothing… no suprise! Guess that means no Fanconi test prior to breeding them. Thanks for the tip though Pat!

[tanza]

@Lexi&DC'smom:

I just tried to look up his sire and dam and guess what? Nothing… no suprise! Guess that means no Fanconi test prior to breeding them. Thanks for the tip though Pat!

Did you check Sally's pedigree site to see if his Sire and Dam were there or any of his other grand parents, etc? That might also give you a clue if there was some health issues in his background.

If you need help in doing that, email me privately if you don't want to post his sire and dams name here. You can find my email addy on my website www.tanzabasenjis.net

And regardless, I would consider doing the DNA test for Fanconi. It is just a cheek swab, cost is 65.00 (I think that is right) and again you can read about it at www.basenjihealth.org

[LexiampDCsmom]

Thanks Pat!

[lvoss]

I just ordered a kit for my puppy 2 weeks ago and the price is $65. It is really easy to do and then you know what to expect.

Basenjis can have issues like EPI, IPSID, and IBD. Many times they manifest very similarly and so it can be just process of elimination trying to rule out or rule in what disorder it is.

How is his appetite? How often and how much is he pooping? If he is pooping a lot and a large volume each time, he may not be getting much out of his food.

I agree with Pat that after you get his results from the vet, if nothing really stands out, you may want to try a limited ingredient food like Natural Balance or Wellness Simple Solutions. These foods are good for sensitive stomachs because they have less ingredients that may trigger a reaction and they are highly digestible so the dogs get the most out of them.

[nobarkus]

Here's the Fanconi kit order link.

https://secure.offa.org/cart.html

[LexiampDCsmom]

Thanks Dan! I ordered a kit last night online… and asked the vet to do a urine test for sugar as suggested. And thanks for the feedback Ivoss.. you know, he does eat well and yes he poops bigger than Lexi.. We get maybe two hours between walks lol... He goes about three times a day I would say. First thing in the morning, after work, and then again for the second evening walk. Sometimes only two times... usually three. But they eat on and off again. They eat when they're hungry and never finish a whole meal. Will go play and come back to it and nibble until gone. The more I read, the more I think he just needs a change in diet to get more out of his food. I always called him my ADD boy.. he's so hyper! lol...

[lvoss]

I would also stop free feeding them because you can't really know how much he is eating. The weight loss may be because he is not actually eating as well as normal. The change to scheduled feedings can be a little rough for the human who worries they are starving their dog but it is really important to know if there are changes in your dog's appetite and that is very difficult to gauge when free feeding especially with multiple dogs. You start by picking what the feeding times are going to be and then put the food down for 15 minutes after 15 minutes you pick it up and it isn't put down again until the next feeding. The dog may miss a couple of meals but they do learn pretty quickly eat when food is offered because you don't know when it will be available again.