@tanza:

The incontinence, weight gain and energy level could certainly be due to low Thyroid. When you check the thyroid, be sure to have the full panel done, not just what normal blood work would show. It has to be sent out for the full panel, your vets normal workup will not include all the details you need to know.

It is not uncommon for older dogs to have incontence issues, however IMO, yours is a bit young for this to be happening, maybe if she were 12 to 14. It would still push for a UTI, many times they do not show up on the test… But if determined that really is incontinence, I have used the hormore replacement and it works great with no side effects.

I didn't know incontinence was one of the symptoms of hypothyroidism. So, I'm kind of glad to hear that. I know the weight gain and low energy level are definitely symptoms (I suffer from hypothyroidism myself). I will tell the vet to do the ful panel. Thanks for all the advice! This is such a great resource!

Ok, I think I will email Dr. Gonto. Thank you so much!
I love your picture…so funny with the rabbit ears!! I'll try to get some pictures up here soon.

I just got a picture up -- I have two basenjis but I can't find a good one of them together. My black and white one is Clea and my red and white is Ramsey.

Thanks for your reply! This thread is about my other basenji, Clea. The vet did do a u/a that came back negative.

I was talking to him last night and we both agreed Clea should get checked for hypothyroidism…but I don't think that has anything to do with her incontinence. She seems well except for incontinence, weight gain and not as perky as she usually is. So, it looks like I'll be bringing both my basenjis to the vet next week.

His blood glucose is always high but I guess we assume when he has a seizure that it is due to low blood glucose. However, that hasn't been proven. The vet suggested I take a blood sample immediately after he has a seizure so I can see his glucose level. He hasn't had a seizure in months but last night at 1am he had one again! It is just so awful to see. At least I'm more calm now with it and I try to talk calmly to him while he is seizuring (the first time it happened I was really frightened/somewhat hysterical and I'm sure that didn't help the situation any). I woke up later in the night and found he had accidents all over the house. I cleaned those up at 3am, then this morning I woke up to more puddles all over the house. I am amazed he had that much in him. Almost everynight for the last 1 - 2 months, he urinates in the house but last night it was ALL over. He does drink a ton of water but that was one of the clues that led to the diabetes diagnosis.

I printed out a lot of information about Fanconi and I'm going to bring it into the vet next week to talk about again. I guess I have my doubts that it is Fanconi because of his high blood glucose levels but it wouldn't hurt to bring it up again with the vet. I'm taking Ramsey in next week so the vet can show me how to get blood out of his leg. He wants me to do a 12 hour blood glucose curve at home. We had done one in the vet's office last May but I guess the results were odd…so he wants me to do one at home when Ramsey is relaxed (vs stressed in the vet clinic).

My 9 year old female basenji is urinating in her sleep. The vet thinks she is dealing with incontinence issues due to post-menopause. He prescribed some estrogen pills and said it should really help her. Anyone deal with this same issue? I haven't started the pills yet….I'm a little nervous about it.

My basenji was diagnosed with diabetes about 2.5 years ago. He went blind about 2 years ago. Within the last year, he has suffered about 4 seizures. I brough up Fanconi with the vet in the past and he said that Ramsey doesn't have that because he has sugar in his blood. The only problem is that it seems we just can't get his insulin dosage just right. He tests positive for the sugar in the urine so then we increase the insulin slightly…but then he suffers a seizure and we go back down in insulin. We thought the seizures may be due to low blood sugar therefore meaning he is getting too much insulin but his urine strips still show high and one time I got him in right after a seizure for glucose check and it showed really high blood glucose (but I had given him Karo syrup right after the seizure). Ramsey look so awful -- super thin, no muscle tone left. Anyways, I'm just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience with their basenji.