Hi, I am new to the Forum and I am looking for
Sorry to hear of your problems. One of my girls seizured badly at age 13. I almost lost her, but my neighbour had her vet out for farm work at the time, and he came right over and gave her a shot (steroid, I think) We didn't do ultrasound…..it wasn't as available in those days......but from her symptoms we suspected a brain tumour. I maintained her with Prednisone, as my vet said it sometimes worked to shrink tumours. I had her on a short course, then tapered off, and her symptoms went away for a time. When they started to some back, she had another course of the drug. I was able to keep her reasonably good until she was just short of 16 years old, although she was becoming increasingly weak and unsteady on her legs at that point. Towards the end she lost her appetite and when she seizured one morning we decided that was enough to put her through. Looking back, I know we held on too long because we couldn't bear to let her go, but I would say she had at least two good years after the first symptoms when she was enjoying life. Of course, every case is different.....
What steps did you take to treat the neck issues? My 14 year old we suspect has an issue with a slipped or bulging disc in his neck. We were told it was really important to keep the strain off his neck so no more collars for walking. He now has a nice harness that he walks on. He does have bad days where he tweaks his neck and sets off symptoms but he usually responds well to 3 day course of Metacam.
Low thyroid can cause seizures.
Hi Ivoss,
Thanks for your reply. For the back/neck pain we put him on a mild pain killer and an anti inflammatory meds and had him on low exercise and I had already replaced the collar with a harness several months ago since both my boy and girl had incidents with with a pulled muscle or pinched nerve in the neck/back which comes and goes. And yes a low thyroid can cause seizures but my vet told me that the second blood test indicated that the low thyroid is due to a secondary cause rather than a hypo-active thyroid gland.
My boy is at the vet right now and I will be picking him up at he end of the day.
I'd look for a holistic vet to enhance any treatment you decide to go with. My trying dog tends to throw his back out and the holistic vet is very helpful.
Hi Agilebasenji, I have thought about alternative medicine and have asked a few people about it but have not received any recommendations so I will have to search the internet for those resources.
Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry that your boy is having these problems. I totally agree with agilebasenji to find a holistic vet. My feeling is that the oldies are better off with alternative treatment where possible as it is less compromising for the elderly system. I do hope that it isn't a tumour. My prayers are with you.
Please keep us informed.
Hi Patty, Than you so much for your input and your sympathy, I can;t tell you how much it means to me.
I will update my original post with today's developments.
Welcome to the forum. I am sorry to hear that your boy is having such trouble with his health. Basenjis are known to have thyroid problems. Dr. Jean Dodds, DVM, is considered the authority when it comes to thyroid and basenjis. http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/HEMOPET.HTM You may want to check out this web site. Are you in 'tick country'? The northeast is known for lyme disease. Has your vet check for this? It is caused by a very small deer tick, just a thought.
Hi - I'm also new to the forum. My 9 year old boy, Milton, started to get "clumsy", and that's just not Basenji-like. My vet didn't find anything wrong at the time, but now it has progressed into both right legs being off. He is "knuckling" when standing still, and when he does a good shake, will lose his balance. He even seems frustrated with it. So, back to the vet we went, and sure enough, he has a deficiency on his right side. He had an appointment with the neurologist Wednesday, and is going in for an MRI tomorrow morning. I thought maybe it was a little stroke, but the Dr. said since it is progressive, most likely is not stroke, but something neurological. Hopefully, it will be something fixable. I am not ready for it to be something more.
Hi SteveH. Welcome to the forum. I am sorry to hear of your dog's problems. It does sound neurological. Fingers crossed that it is nothing serious. Great pictures! He looks like a wonderful, athletic dog.
StevH - lovely pictures. I hope the problem is not as bad as you imagine and that it is treatable.
