A veterinary technician named Ranee Baker notified BRAT volunteers a few years ago to use the follow anesthesia protocol for basenjis. One of our fosters nearly passed away after a neutering procedure because our vet used its own standard protocol. The problem with basenjis is that many of them have lower than normal fat tissues. As a result, the standard anesthetic procedures used by many vets actually overloads their systems. We've used Ranee Baker's anesthesia protocol every time since then and have found that our foster and resident basenjis recover FAR faster:
_
I premedicate with:

Buprenex (pain medicine) weight in pounds divided by 2.2 X 0.02 divided by 0.3 given intramuscularly
Ace Promazine (tranquilizer) weight in pounds X 0.05 divided by 20 given intramuscularly

EXAMPLE: a 20 pound dog will get 0.6ml of Buprenex and 0.05ml Ace Promazine.

I give this 15-20 minutes to work, the dog will get relaxed and may go to sleep.
I then place an IV cathter in the cephalic vein (in the forearm).

To induce anesthesia:

Ketamine/Valium (1:1 ratio) 1ml per 20 pounds given intravenously via the catheter.
This is given to effect, you may not need the entire dose. I generally give half the dose then see how sleepy the dog is. If the dog is not relaxed enough to intubate I continue to give in 0.1ml increments slowly.

Once relaxed, I intubate (place a tube down the dogs trachea) and maintain anesthesia by gas at 1 liter of oxygen and 2% Isoflurane. The Isoflurane is adjusted as needed to keep the dog at the required anesthetic plane throughout the procedure.

Monitoring of anesthesia is done by a registered veterinary technician. I use a pulse oximeter to measure heart rate and oxygen saturation and take a blood pressure reading every 3-5 minutes. Respirations are also monitored.

Once the dog has been shaved, scrubbed and moved to surgery, she is placed on a hot water heating pad to keep her warm and IV fluids are started to keep her blood pressure up. Surgical fluid rate is 5 X the patients weight in pounds. EXAMPLE: a 20 pound dog will receive fluids at 100ml per hour.
This rate is increased if the dog's blood pressure drops below 80.

Once the procedure is over, the Isoflurane is turned off and the dog is maintained on 1 liter of oxygen for 5 minutes. The dog is then disconnected from the anesthesia machine and moved to a recovery cage with a hot water heating pad. Once the dog is able to swallow, the endotracheal tube is removed.

We monitor the dog for a few hours before sending them home. The dog will get another injection of Buprenex (for pain) 6 hours after the first one and will go home on pain medication._

Does anyone have any point of contact information for Jenn and Cale, the owners of Cyrus, or even Jenn's last name? Jenn used "CyrusVirus" as her forum name, but she hasn't posted a message since June 2008 nor has she responded to my private message in her member page.

I am asking for help because I noticed that there was a Cyrus on the Zande Basenji pedigree website and he is supposed to be a littermate to my Tippy. I've tried getting Tippy's ACA pedigree from the ACA, but they refuse to provide that information because I do not have the ACA registration paperwork (I rescued and fostered Tippy on behalf of BRAT, and subsequently adopted him). Anyway, none of the families that owned Tippy previously would respond to my requests for them to provide ACA registration paperwork.

So, I am hoping that, if I can get in touch with Jenn, that Jenn will have Cyrus' ACA registration paperwork, which will effectively be the same thing for Tippy, as they were born to the same parents.

TIA,

Navyman

Owned by 4 B's

Our 4 B's love twin hoofers made by Merrick. Although they are about $3 or $4 a piece, they last a few days, and present a stimulating challenge for the dogs to pry out the ankle and toe bones.

They are certainly better than the smoked ham bones, which they shred in an hr or two then it starts splintering; not to mention the pooping marathon that ensues. The long beef bones are better in some ways but they strip those in the same amount of time and get bored with them quickly.

Rawhides of any kinds are prohibited in our household due to horror stories from others. So many people don't realize how bad those things are.

@TuckerVA:

I am going to Belgium for a week late in February (16th - 24th) and haven't boarded Tucker for more than a couple days to date. Is there any reason why I should be worried about leaving him for that long? The kennel I used at that time seemed to do a very good job with Tucker and he came home seemingly happy. I guess I'm just a concerned 'parent' and am a bit apprehensive for leaving him for so long… (almost 10 days)

Anyone want to host my dog for 10 days? I'll pay! :) I'm in Virginia if anyone actually gives this some thought... Hee hee.

My wife and I B-sit for several B owners in No. VA and MD. In fact, we are petsitting 2 B's and a B-mix for a couple that's on vacation for a week. My wife is the MD & DE coordinator for BRAT, and we live in Southern MD. We have 4 of our own B's. We will not travel unless one of our B-owning friends is able to watch our 4 B's because kenneling is not something we care for.

We tend to charge $20/day for each B. If given specific instructions for meds, sleeping patterns, behavior patterns, etc, we will do everything possible to accommodate.

If interested, send me a PM, and I'll see if it can be worked out.

What we tend to do is get a new toilet paper roll, light a candle placed into the top of it, and sing happy birthday to the B on his/her special day. Then, all enjoy pieces of muffin-sized cake-like dog biscuit after they tear the TP roll into a zillion pieces together. The pups get a kick out of the strange routine.

@tanza:

And why Carrier to Carrier breedings should never happen….. The fact that you can produce an affected should stop anyone from doing a Carrier to Carrier....

That's absolutely right…I cannot fathom why anyone would even risk a form of genetic "Russian roulette" when it comes to the future health of our beloved breed?

Now that there's the linked DNA test, NO ONE has ANY excuse for breeding ANY basenji without first getting them tested, any more than one having a valid excuse to put a 1-bullet loaded revolver to their head.

@Tiva:

I know litter were both parents are carriers. Two of pups are clear, the other two are not tested yet.

Theoretically, a litter from two carriers could end up with all clear or all carrier, or all affected…however, the odds are against that. The laws of probability lean, on average, towards the 25/25/50 percentage mix.

FWIW, we had a recent similar experience with our tri male, Buddy. A few weeks ago, while my family and I were sitting on the family room floor conversing, we noticed a white worm-like creature wriggling out of Buddy's anus. It was quite shocking as we've never seen that happen before.

I gently pulled it out and put it in a small jar with water for the vet, along with a stool that we later collected for the vet to examine. The next morning, it was still wriggling in the water-filled jar!

It turned out to be tapeworm, which is usually caused by the ingestion of an infected flea. One of our fosters was flea-infested prior to coming into our home and Buddy probably ingested a flea while nipping at it in his fur.

The vet dispensed a 1-time tapeworm medication that starts with a "D", which was a lot nicer than the standard 10-day antibiotic regimen that we are used to for treating the occassional results of a foster or resident B tussle.

@Quercus:

http://www.pedigrees.zandebasenjis.com/

Did you try here, above?

Can you put the sire and dam's numbers into the ACA website? Or is there a number to actually talk to someone, maybe they could help you more?

I would think that since you have the litter number, the ACA could help you, if you could talk to a human….

I contacted the ACA last Friday and was told I had to prove that Tippy was a rescue by faxing such documentation. I sent that information in, similar to the info shown in the original post above, including BRAT documentation accordingly.

Then, yesterday, I followed up with ACA and was told that a supervisor made the determination that they could'nt help me unless BRAT issued an ACA registration application to me. Then I contacted a few BRAT board members and one answered saying they've never had seen nor heard of such a thing.

I'm beginning to feel like the ACA is trying to hide something, something to the effect that they are really a "false marketing front" for the profit-making pet industry. A couple of very nice basenji-loving folks have stepped forward to try to help track down potential puppy mill/pedigree information, but if they are not successful, I wonder how I can convince the ACA that my interest in Tippy's pedigree is purely medical and to support the Fanconi research efforts? Does anyone think it would help if I told the ACA that Tippy is already neutered (as BRAT requires for all their rescues)? I don't necessarily want to register him at all, but if that's what it takes to get his pedigree, I will do it.

@YodelDogs:

I sent you a private message navyman.

Hi Robyn,

Please see my two subsequent PMs.

Thanks,

Kent

@dtsv650r:

I'm a past keeper of a Basenji, well actually he tolerated me:) He's been gone about six years now and am finally thinking about bringing another into my life!
I've been lurking around here and some other sites for a while and I thought I'd catch up here and see just what the state of the Basenji world was like these days!

Regards, Dave

Dave, welcome! Have you considered the idea of adopting a rescue via Basenji Rescue and Transport (BRAT) (www.basenjirescue.org)??)

@khanis:

Actually, if you want to get technical, these are not really accurate.
For example, when you breed a carrier to a carrier, you do not get the above percentages….
what should be known is that EACH pup has 25% chance of being clear, 25% chance of being affected, and a 50% chance of being a carrier.
That is quite different than how it is stated above.

I'd be the first to admit that stats isn't my forte, but I wanted to be sure I understood what you were referring to, whether it was the lexicon (i.e., "EACH pup") or the punnet square percentages (i.e., 25%/50%/25%) or the odds of pairing a carrier to a carrier?

In regard to the % of Affecteds on the database, it is WAY OFF compared to the number of affecteds out there. I know of at least a dozen affecteds, if not close to two dozen, that are NOT on the database. Many have samples in the CPP, but just not on the database. Having them in the database does not assist in the researchers finding the gene. It just tells everyone who the affecteds are, or are not.

What can people do beyond submitting samples in the CPP to assist researchers?

It basically gives others a reason to point fingers. Been there, done that.

It's unfortunate when people feel the need to point fingers, especially for a situation where, up until the recent past, it has not been possible for anyone to determine with absolute certainty the presence of the gene in any of their dogs. All of our energies should be focused on the future for a solution to the greatest threat to our beloved breed.

For those affecteds that I know of that don't have samples in…
you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
I am tired of trying to advocate to these people for health research...
I've even given their names and contact info to Jon Curby in hopes he could twist their arm. I doubt it. Those kind of folks find it easier to hide their head in the sand and deal with it themselves.

I certainly hope none of these people you are referring to are breeders. I can somewhat sympathize with that feeling as my wife and I have found it frustrating at times as a foster family to try to advise a couple of adopting families to get their B tested for a medical condition (ex: hypo after dog showed extreme weight gain).

Best of luck on your Hofer boy's linkage test results.

Thanks very much. I am hoping that Buddy was lucky enough to dodge the bullet.

@tanza:

Those are correct and also if you go to the health endowment site they are posted there also… but thanks for posting that here also. It is good for all B owners to see and learn about Fanconi.... Right now the Indetermine as to be consider as carriers until we have a direct test. I do know of one Indetermine that has sired an affected.

You mean to tell me I wasted my time punching a calculator this morning??? ;) Oh well, at least I gave myself a basic stats refresher course :D. So far, my Hofer tri male, Buddy, is passing his monthly strip testing.

@tanza:

Also of note is that the number of AFS would really be much higher if many of the dogs that are already spilling had or are tested… so that % IMO is off because of this fact. So I think that the 10% might be somewhat higher.

And I am not surprised by the number of carriers..., in fact I am surprised that we don't have more affected... What it tells me is that breeders for all these years did a pretty good job trying to "do the right thing" in regards to breeding. Another thing that has been really a positive is that the entire Basenji community has come together, there has been no finger pointing, no "I told you so"... everyone has been supportive to people that have not had good results... and I am so very glad that it is an open data base. I wish that Hip results were open also....

Tanza,

I now understand why you asked me in another thread how & why I thought Buddy's Dam was likely to be clear. Before my analysis of the OFA data, I had no idea how prevalent the gene was in the breed.

Your intuition and experience about stating that it is remarkable that there aren't more AFS based on these stats makes perfect sense based on some further simple statistical analysis (i.e., Punnet Squares) below. I computed the simple probability of each type of result assuming the use of OFA data only, doing pairings on a strictly random basis, and for the sake of simplicity, assuming that the 3.3% of indeterminates are clear. The results imply that responsible breeders have done the basenji community a great service in reducing the actual probabilities by removing the "random" factor with responsible (as far as could be done) pairings.

(Disclaimer: stats below should not be construed as reflecting probability for the overall basenji population at large. Please feel free to correct me on any noted errors):

• Probability of pairing a AFS to an AFS: Less than 1% (.06) (All offspring would be AFS).

• Probability of pairing a carrier to an AFS: 2.9% (probability of 50% of offspring would be carriers and 50% AFS)

• Probability of pairing a carrier to a carrier: 14.5% (probability of offspring being 25% clear, 50% carrier, 25% AFS)

• Probability of pairing a carrier to a clear: 20.7% (probability of offspring being 50% carrier, 50% clear)

• Probability of pairing a clear to AFS: 4.1% (probability of 100% offspring being carriers)

• Probability of pairing a clear to a clear: 29.6% (probability of offspring being 100% clear)

Out of curiousity, I downloaded the OFA FS data into Excel and computed a few basic statistical results, as follows:

Total sample: 875
Males: 412 (47.1% of sample)
Females: 463 (52.9% of sample)
Total AFS: 66 (7.5% of sample)
Males AFS: 32 (7.8% of Total Males)
Females AFS: 34 (7.3% of Total Females)
Average age of Basenji with AFS tested: 4.7 years
Total CARRIERS: 333 (38.1% of sample)
Male CARRIERS: 169 (41.0% of Total Males)
Female CARRIERS: 164 (35.4% of Total Females)
Total Indeterminates: 29 (3.3% of sample)
Male Indeterminates: 15 (3.6% of Total Males)
Female Indeterminates: 14 (3.0% of Total Females)

Although I recognize that this OFA sample is hardly a statistically significant and accurate representation of the basenji population at large, I was still stunned by the percentage of carriers identified at 38.1% of the tested population.:eek: It's not really a wonder that 7.5% of the sample turned out to be AFS, which is roughly consistent with the 10% estimated FS incidence rate that has been mentioned over the years. Another thing that was clear is that the gender appears to have no bearing whatsoever on any of the 4 possible types of results…in other words, both males and females are equally susceptible to being AFS, carriers, indeterminate, or normal/clear.

What this analysis means to me personally is that since my male tri, Buddy, is a Hofer pup, and it is very probable that his Sire, Hofer Sniffer, was either a carrier or AFS, I am a bit more concerned now that his Dam has a good chance (i.e., 38%) to have been a carrier.:( Even though I'm not a breeder, and Buddy is neutered, for my peace of mind, I need to get Buddy's DNA sent into the lab asap to get his probability of AFS determined.

@sharronhurlbut:

I have to say, even when the weather is nice, my b's doen't like to "go" in the backyard.
Guess as they are out there sunning themselves, they see that as an extention of the house.
My dogs don't even like to go in my front yard..
Seems like they like to get away from where they live…at least that is what I find.

Same thing here with us…we sometimes have to drag them to the park to get them to empty out. Buddy gives me the impression that he's saving all the poopies inside him for marking the park to extend his territorial gains...why waste precious markers on already-claimed property? When we go to the park, Buddy will usually poop 3-4 times; all properly distanced apart for maximum gain. We are lucky if he goes once in the backyard (or the front yard for that matter).

Add me to the chorus wherein 2 B's are actually an improvement over having only 1. When I see other people with only 1 dog, I feel sorry for the dog. They are naturally social pack-oriented animals. I also agree on the common advice of pairing opposite sexes, or if it works out, two males. 2 females rarely work out…I know, because I fostered a few females, and my resident female always made it clear that only one queen could rule the roost.

When we got Buddy, our first B, he was always chasing the resident cats and chewing on things. When we brought home Bella, his pesky behaviors immediately ceased and they bonded within a few weeks.

2 B's are easier than 1!

Also agree on the need to let the B's work disagreements out on their own. 95% of the time, it seems, major disagreements are triggered by human behaviors. Example: last week, my daughter scolded Buddy for reaching for something on an end table. That got him thinking "If I can't have it, then sure as heck, Tippy can't either, and I better make sure he understand that!!!" Then, Buddy went after Tippy in a "kick the dog" frustration reaction.

@Quercus:

http://www.pedigrees.zandebasenjis.com/

Did you try here, above?

Can you put the sire and dam's numbers into the ACA website? Or is there a number to actually talk to someone, maybe they could help you more?

Yeah, I tried zandebasenjis too. I should have mentioned that in my OP. The ACA website doesn't seem to allow one to do a search. I followed up on your idea to call the ACA's 800 number. I was told I needed to fax proof of rescue and adoption to them before they could assist me any further. So, I'm going to do that now.

We just adopted a 10-month old male tri, named Tippy, after fostering him on behalf of BRAT for the last 6 weeks. I'm asking for your advice on how, if possible, to find out Tippy's pedigree. Below is the information that we have on him:

• Sold to Petland in the Cleveland, OH area by an Amish breeder named Dennis Miller of Millersburg, OH in Holmes County.

• Petland "check-in" sheet states the following:

• "Arrived 1/29/07"
• "Whelped 12/8/06"
• "Registry: ACA"
• "Acquired from: Miller, Dennis #439"
• "Reg Appl Papers: Yes"

• Petland's "Vaccination and Wormings" document states the following:

• Litter: OH-ABA-0778245
• Sire: DL Kingston's Kurt #OH-ABA-0589815
• Dam: DL Luis's Rosie # OH-ABA-0520421
• Registry: American Canine Association Registerable

• I attempted to go to the ACA website, but it requires an ACA registration number, an internet number, etc, none of which came with the paperwork given to us by the third family which Tippy had been passed to. Yes, we are his 4th family in the last 4 months of his very young life.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

@tanza:

And you will need to "talk" your Vet into giving you a scrip for the Soloxine if you want to order it yourself… sometimes that can be a problem too.... but if you insist, they must do it....

Amen to that!