Longtime member, not active. Had a basenji with the same diagnosis back in 2004. He took a tremendous amount of bicarb each day, his Fanconi was being well managed, but he started having seizures at night. Our vet gave us something to stop the seizure that we'd administer rectally. We kept track of the number of seizures and they started becoming more frequent, to about twice a week, if I recall. The final seizure he had he went temporarily blind and howled and howled and we knew that was it was time. I just sat on the floor with him and cried. A couple months later we looked at photos we had taken of him right before and he looked very, very tired. Very much the hardest thing we had ever done was to let him go across the Bridge, but after looking at those photos, we had done the right thing. Our vet had told us that it was possible he would have a seizure and not come out of it, and we certainly didn't want that.
Fanconi Syndrome
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I have had a the same problem with my basenji. I thought it was hopeless but found that I needed to grind all the tablets in a mortar and pestle. I bought number 4 empty capsules online. They come in packs of about a thousand or so and the number 4's are small enough to hide in food. I put all of her required medicine into the empty capsules... Do this for about 2 hours on a day that you have extra time and you can have enough for a whole months supply. I then cut up little chunks of pork that has been grilled on my foreman grill big enough to fit each capsule in and totally hide the capsule. I take a chopstick and poke a hole in each small piece of pork and then insert the capsule into each piece. Before putting the capsules into the pork though, it can be helpful to wipe them off and make sure you have no residue of any of the medicine on your hands when you handle the pork. Rubbing them in bacon grease before inserting them also helps get any odors off the capsules but is not necessary. My dog rarely notices when I do this, and of course the capsules are tasteless unless she happens to break one... Which she'll spit out. But it's not a big deal as I'll just give her another piece of pork with another capsule in it. This method has worked great for me when nothing else seemed to work. It may seem like a lot of work, but once you get the system down it doesn't take too long. Hope that helps.
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@dropit - Great idea! Thanks for sharing
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I know people think Gonto walks on water...and I don't in any way want to take away from his incredible work for Basenjis, but be aware he is not a veterinarian. He is not a medical doctor.
People have blindly followed him even when his protocol was clearly not working for their dog. I have heard of far too many who think if his protocol doesn't work, then there's no other option. And if you even suggest that further research by medical researchers might be helpful in advancing the protocol, better have on your flame retardant suit because they will come for you.
When dogs that have been given up on try adjustments and their quality of life improves, then his is not the only way.
If his protocol is working and your dog is doing really well, great. If not, please think of all the different treatments for many disorders...one treatment rarely is the right for all. It isn't a personal insult to Dr Gonto to try something else if it might help your dog.
Pam Hamilton isn't a medical doctor or veterinarian either, but I have seen near miracles. At least talk to her, discuss options, try them if you like. flbasenji@gmail.com
Ultimately we all want to keep our dogs as healthy as long as possible. Quality of life matters. Just keep an open mind.
Debra
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Hello, I had a wonderful basenji named Titan back in the day who had Fanconi. He too would not eat anything with a pill in it, pill pockets did not work. We finally did just pill him by putting pills down the throat and then we gave him treats afterwards--cheese, dog cookies, raw meat bits, salmon treats, ham, chicken bits--just everything and anything he liked.
That worked very well for us and he would actually trot into the kitchen and wait expectantly for his post pill treats. We pilled Titan twice a day with about the same dosage as you mention in your post. You might want to try pilling him that way, start by giving him 2 pills, then a treat, 2 pills, then a treat and treats afterwards.
I was able to put 2 pills between my fingers and give him 2 pills at a time after awhile. Also, lots of praise and hugs during. You can slowly work up to giving him a treat between every 4-5 treats.
Best of luck,
Diane
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Regarding Gonto not being a vet.
The Gonto protocol was analyzed and investigated in a study that appeared in the Journal of the American Veterinary Association back in 2004 and it was found to be a sound and useful protocol.
(https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.2004.225.377).He has since revised it www.basenjirescue.org/fanconi/fanconi-protocol-2015.pdf
No treatment works 100% of the time, but this was quite the lifesaver for my family. My dog Titan was on it for four years and his levels were stable up until the end when he succumbed from a brain tumor.
Diane
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Regarding pilling, I find some dogs aren't too difficult, but I had one Basenji in particular that would appear to have swallowed the pill but subsequently would spit it out, often after having collected the treat that came as a reward. I don't know how she did it! OTOH, my Border Collie spit out a pill once and when I expressed my displeasure he gave me a "sorry boss" look and promptly picked up the pill and ate it. Different breeds! When I had both it was night and day dealing with them. The BC would do anything for my praise, was not at all interested in treats (would eat them if I insisted), the Basenjis were always "What's in it for me?"
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@debradownsouth Good point. We're so fortunate to have both Pam and Steve Gonto to support our sick babies. Pam is indeed a miracle worker, and never gives up on dogs.
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Hello. Just wanted to thank everyone once again. Today was a very successful day. I was able to get Lily to take all 7 sodium bicarbonate tablets in cat food. I was very careful when hiding the pills. I used tweezers and gloves and I think that did the trick. Tomorrow I will try 7 tabs in the morning and 7 tabs at night. After a few days, I will add her vitamins to the regimen. Thanks again and I will keep you posted!
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@b5004ever said in Fanconi Syndrome:
Regarding Gonto not being a vet.
The Gonto protocol was analyzed and investigated in a study that appeared in the Journal of the American Veterinary Association back in 2004 and it was found to be a sound and useful protocol.
(https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.2004.225.377). <<Actually, they found nothing
What effect the treatment regimen had on survival time or lifespan could not be determined, given the small number of dogs managed with other methods. <<
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@anna I"m adding this only because I didn't see it suggested in the other 18 responses... I have never had to give so many pills as you are - so I feel for you (so to speak). But, try this... get a cheap coffee grinder and grind the pills up. Then, instead of putting them into pill casings, mix them with some chicken stock and pour the stock over their breakfast/dinner foods. You'll probably only need 1-2T of stock to disolve the powder and the liquid should act like a gravy sauce over kibble or human foods. Bet the bowl gets licked dry! Here's hoping that you find a solution that works for everyone!
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@elbrant
The bitterness might make that a no go -
I would like to thank everyone once again for their comments and responses. Just an update. The cat food seems to be working. I am scooping the cat food into little balls using a melon scooper, then I insert the tablet using tweezers, and then I mold it into a perfect little ball using gloves. She is now taking all 7 sodium bicarbonate tablets and 2 vitamins twice a day (18 tablets total per day). I still have 2 more tablets to add to the regimen but am I confident that it won’t be a problem. I can’t tell you how happy I am that she is now taking her tablets. It is such a relief. I know it will take a little time to get her blood levels back up to where they need to be so I will wait about a month before having her blood work checked. Again, I can’t thank everyone enough for their ideas and comments. I am adding a photo of Lily, hopefully it loads. 
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Glad that is helping!
No picture though. -
Sorry. The other photo won’t upload because it’s too big. This is the only one small enough to upload. -
Lily has figured out that the cat food has pills in it. I made a mistake and used liverwurst last night instead of cat food because it doesn’t smell as much. She knew right away that there were pills in the liverwurst and she ate all of the liver wurst and left a few pills. This morning I went back to cat food and she ate all of the cat food and left a few pills. I am going to try to give her the pills she didn’t take later in a different flavor cat food. She is just too smart! I hope it works otherwise I will have to try a different food.
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Unfortunately they catch on fast.
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Yes. They catch on real fast. I thought that would happen. Been there. That's why I've had to use the capsules. My dog is extremely smart. Their scent is nearly bionic. As Deb said ...even if the pills are mixed with anything like broth she won't touch it. My dog will also not tolerate having pills pushed down her throat no matter how many treats i would give her before or after. She can see that coming. She is not stupid. Not all basenjis have the same tolerance and temperment and many people don't understand this.
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@dropit Really good point.
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Sorry, I haven’t posted in a few days. I have tried putting the pills in a couple of new foods and she refuses to eat any of them. I tried tuna fish with a little mayo, which she normally likes, and I also tried raviolis. Anything I give her she is skeptical of. She will not readily take anything until she smells it for a good 2 minutes and if she even thinks it doesn’t smell right she won’t eat it. It is so frustrating because not everything I give her has pills in it. I tried to make a game of it by giving “treats” to Lily and Georgie thinking the competition would help, but Lily insists on smelling everything and doesn’t care if Georgie gets her treats before she has a chance to eat them. She will just as willingly not eat anything. Thanks for listening. I will let you know how things go over the next few days.
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At some point you will just have to accept that she is not going to take the pills unless you don't give her the option of refusing. If you don't want to force them on her IMO it's better to concede this battle and just feed her the best diet that you can. If she is refusing to eat, ultimately that will do more harm than going off the protocol.
