Hi Kipawa! Our last B had Fanconi, and my husband was very animate about getting a B without Fanconi, if we were to bring a B into our lives again. We don't plan on breeding, and if people are breeding the gene 'out' of the breed, it's just our preference to have a B that won't have this gene.

thanks! emailed the addy above, if we can find a B that needs a home- that's even better

Hello everyone!

It's been awhile since posting here, I haven't posted since Isis was put to sleep in April 09… It was an incredibly hard time for me and my husband.
July 2010 came around, and we felt like were were ready to get another dog.
We rescued Dee Dee (a beagle pitbull) from the shelter and while she's a brat sometimes- but we can't imagine life without her!

But we miss having a B and we think Dee Dee is ready for a new friend.
Can anyone direct me to fanconi free breeders in California? (San Diego - Hollywood?)
We have cats and plan to have children, so if there is a male Basenji (with proof of being Fanconi free) who likes cats and kids who needs a good home... my husband and I would be interested
to see him

But, we are also willing to wait for a litter in California, AZ or maybe NV.
I can't let my husband go through fanconi again, it crushed him, so any help in finding a B that fits the criteria would be very much appreciated!
Thank you, and I hope to chat in the forums again

Isis, our Basenji, was helped yesterday to ease her pain, after struggling with fanconi syndrome for over the past year.

She was a great dog, an interesting dog, and a great example of the breed. But most of all, she was our first dog. Any other dog that we get after her will be living under her shadow, because she set a high bar.

We'll miss you "little deer."

(here is a link to our little tribute on my blog)

@tanza:

…. we have lost 3 since last May... and while it was to old age.. it is still never long enough...
The good news is there is now a test for Fanconi and there is never, ever a reason to have another affected Basenji born with this horrible affliction....

yeah, i read your tribute on the RB thread. I'm sorry to hear that you lost the most recent 2 so close together. That's must have been a though week

My cat is now exhibiting some hair loss on her front limbs. She's 8 yrs old & healthy… so I am hoping it is just stress. We do what we can for our furr babies don't we?

And I agree, it's never long enough

@tanza:

I found with Maggii that it really helped her quality of life…. as with renal failure they are usually sick to their tummy... therefore they don't want to eat... it help her to eat better and hold her weight. Also Pepcid AC helps too, one a day... I felt as long as her quality of life was good then I would continue... when even with the fluids she was not eating ... then we knew it was time to let her go.

Is Isis still on the protocol?

We give her Tums, 2 a day, along with her other pills. Yeah, we were doing the protocol right up until the weight loss, but now we are just trying to get her to eat anything. Because one day she likes her "princess dinner" (we joke) the the next day she refuses to touch it. It's really fraustrating seeing her so thin and refusing to eat! We can make Isis take her pills, but food? We don't know what to do sometimes. Her appetite had no bounds a few months ago, now she's lucky to have one.

My husband and I talk about her qaulity of life. She doesn't care to clean herself, she lays in her own mess, she's confused when we take her on walks… the hubby says "she's a shadow of the dog she once was" and it's taken me a long time to see what he means by that. I think it was easier for me to think she's fine, a little thin but fine. Acting weird, but she's a B... But today's walk had me in tears.

We're going to try to get more weight on her (though she looks like she lost weight since last week), to stabalize her. Def do an update on the whole issue within a week or 2.

Did Maggie perk up on the subQ?

Yeah, Isis was in good con'd- considering she has fanconi. She had a sparkle in her eye… though we joke that the lights aren't on upstairs

Then, all of a sudden, rapid loss of weight, no desire to eat, "spazztic" behaviour, I think my husband said that she tried to bite him too (I don't remember).

I think we are going to try a little while longer with her food... so I'll post an update when there's news.

Writing on the forums has helped a lot in understanding fanconi, and to vent when things are little rough.

Best wishes with Jazz too

We haven't tried it, but during our last visit the vet mentioned doing this and he said that it could extend her life for a while longer (like in the case with your Maggie).

But he said that with her behaviour and the rapid weight loss (he doesn't know she's lost a pound or two since the last visit) it's kinda prolonging what's going to happen soon. Something like, the final stages.

I don't know. The hubby and I talk about the situation, and trying to sort what's best for her vs what we want. I want Isis for as long as we can have her, but it's hard seeing what she is going through, knowing that she is on borrowed time.

It's weird how fanconi can suddenly change pace in a matter of days.

Since my last post, Isis lost 5 lbs within a 2 week period. After going through the special diet we've had to do for 3 months, she started getting picky with her food, even to the point where she refuses to eat. When taking her out on our walks, it seems likes she doesn't know what she's doing, sometimes she doesn't even listen to us, sometimes she tries to run away

We took her to the vet and he gave us an estimate time frame of 6 months- or less. He mentioned that her behaviour is a result of toxins, result of the kidneys failing- sort of like dementia. She's fine now, but every now and then it sneaks in there (and it's only been a week since the behavoiur started).

His advice was to just give her any food that she will eat to try to maintain the weight she has now. The ride home from the vet, my husband and I started to get in the mindset that next time we see the vet, it'll be Isis's last.

I just got back from a walk with her, and it hard to see that her body is not keeping the weight. She's not excited to see us and she's more tired than usual.

Our last visit to the vet was going to be our last, but the vet said that she could still live "happily" with her weight. If she lost anymore, he said he can understand if we want to put her down. I mean- any more weight is half her body weight – I didn't want to give up on Isis, because I really thought she was fighting to live... but after today's walk... I feel awful that we are making her live through this.

We've been going through her photo album, laughing at the good times, but also a little melancholy. I think we're ready to do right by our dog.

Yeah, we really don't care about the furniture, we care about her and our fights have dealt in what's best for her.

We feel like bad pet-parents sometimes, entertaining ideas of a rescue and such- things we've never even discussed before this hit us- it's not the dogs fault, but we understand why some people give up thier pet now. But no one can understand our dog. We're doing the best we can for her, sometimes I feel maybe someone else can do better for her.

i am glad I found this site– because of support from people who understand this conflict.

thanks :,)