Barley's eating troubles

[btterfly111]

My Basenji is a male named Barley. He is almost three years old. B has had digestive issues his whole life. It took about two months to switch him from puppy food to an adult formula. We have had numerous issues with diarrhea and/or his stool being to hard. I have been to different vets and they seem to vary in their knowledge of the breed and the problems he is having. I am getting conflicting information and I'm just interested in getting my dog healthy to the point where we don't have so many problems.

I first took Barley to the vet with concerns about his frequent diarrhea. When we would walk his first stool seemed fine and then after that the diarrhea would start. The vet seemed knowledgeable, ran a series of test and recommended I put him on a half a packet of Purina FortiFlora Probotic a day.
This helped clear up our diarrhea issues.

Now six months have gone by and he is having trouble with his stool being to hard. He pushes too hard and this week he prolapsed part of his rectum. I was out of town, and the vet this time did not seem to know the breed at all. She shunned the fact that I give him raw meat. She did not know about Fanconi or any disease related to the breed. She told me to get him off raw meat and put him on a Rx dog food.

I currently feed Barley twice a day. He gets raw meat in the morning in the form of beef, steak, or bacon. He gets Taste Of The Wild at night with yogurt and his Probotic on it. I have also added in a tablespoon of pumpkin this week to help soften his stool. He also eats a slice of American cheese a day for his treat after walks.

This is my first dog and I want to give him the best I can. I'm just not sure I'm doing it right. And answers seem to be varying. I would truly appreciate any help you can give.

[sharronhurlbut]

Maybe add more pumpkin? It sure works for my 2..
It sounds like your doing everything right…

[tanza]

I would think that maybe bacon would have way too much fat in it?… are you feeding lean meats for raw? Have he been tested for Fanconi?.. easy enough with the cheek swab DNA test... Can you add some veggies to his meals?

[Basenjimamma]

I personally do not think he is getting "constipated" from the raw diet. All my dogs are on it and doing good. I would add some more pumpkin as Sharron stated and maybe some veggies. Do make sure you pulp the veggies, either in your foodprocessor with the blades in it or in a blender or juicer. You want it to be finely "chopped" or pulped, that way his system can absorb the vitamins and goodies easier. Is he constipated all the time, or is it mainly in the evening or in the am?
I hope this helps,

Petra

[Rita Jean]

How much water does your dog drink? You need so much liquid in your system maybe needs to drink more. Is your dog in crate very much? Maybe needs to run or walk more. Not sure about all of this but maybe. Good Luck

Rita Jean

[dmcarty]

You know - it likely is a couple of things BUT I would stop the cheese - it is specifically a binding agent and maybe his system just is too sensitive to that in the extreme.

[btterfly111]

Thanks guys. This is all very helpful. Barley drinks a lot of water, and if his water dish ever gets empty he brings it to me and plops it on my lap. I just started adding water to his food to help too.

What kind of vegetables should I be giving him? Like carrots and potatoes? I was feeding bacon to help him gain weight, but now he is back where I like him to be. I was giving him cheese to help with calcium because I heard that calcium needed to be supplemented with Taste of the Wild dog food.

Barley doesn’t have a crate. We tried it for awhile but he tends to freak out in small spaces or when he gets stuck in a room. I just let him roam during the day and he is content and doesn’t do anything wrong.

Does anyone use the Purina FortiFlora Probotic with your dogs? Do you think it helps?

Also I thought it was recommended that you wait to test for Fanconi until the dog was 3 years old? Barley won’t be three till November. Should I get him tested sooner? I was told it was late onset so not to test him as a puppy.

[Rita Jean]

I would test for the Fanconi now then at least you know clear,carrier or what. There is lots on here about it but just for you and your dog I would do it. Go to www.offa.org and left side in the blue go to OFA-DNA Testing that will take you to the OFA Store and the 2nd one down is the Fanconi test you can order and do it at home and send it back to them.
We feed Jayce Eukanuba Lamb-Rice, Eukanuba puppy original and Peidgree Puppy we mix all three and she has done great on it. I must say she loves the Lamb and Rice the most but eats all three.
My cousin is a breeder and she feeds all of her dogs a can of green beans every week says its keeps there system clean and healthy. Her husband is a doctor and told her to do this went she started out about 20 years ago. Now just because he is a doctor does not mean that he really knows anything but she does have healthy and very long life dogs. Food for though.

Rita Jean

[Basenjimamma]

Yes the veggies that you can try include carrots, bellpeppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, ( I wouldn't give raw regular potatoes though) a little spinach (not much) kale, some broccoli (some dogs hate it so try it in small doses), zuccini (probably not spelled right) squash and the like. As far as calcium, I would try other sources then cheese like again Kale or even yogurt mixed in his food. I guess I am not familiar with Taste of the Wild, but why is it not a complete diet?
As far as Probiotics, you can never go wrong adding that, for yorself or your dog.
Fanconi can be tested earlier than 3 years, it is simple, just a cheekswab you do in your home and then send in for testing to be done. There is more info on this site; http://www.basenjihealth.org/linkage-faq.htm

Petra

[tanza]

@btterfly111:

Thanks guys. This is all very helpful. Barley drinks a lot of water, and if his water dish ever gets empty he brings it to me and plops it on my lap. I just started adding water to his food to help too.

What kind of vegetables should I be giving him? Like carrots and potatoes? I was feeding bacon to help him gain weight, but now he is back where I like him to be. I was giving him cheese to help with calcium because I heard that calcium needed to be supplemented with Taste of the Wild dog food.

Barley doesn?t have a crate. We tried it for awhile but he tends to freak out in small spaces or when he gets stuck in a room. I just let him roam during the day and he is content and doesn?t do anything wrong.

Does anyone use the Purina FortiFlora Probotic with your dogs? Do you think it helps?

Also I thought it was recommended that you wait to test for Fanconi until the dog was 3 years old? Barley won?t be three till November. Should I get him tested sooner? I was told it was late onset so not to test him as a puppy.

Since we now have the DNA test for Fanconi, they can be tested as early as a new born, since it is a cheek swab. Then you will know if you need to test him monthly with the urine test strips if his test came back Affected. If clear or carrier you should have no worries about Fanconi. Remember that you need to register your Basenji on the CPP site, but you can find those details on the link give to you by Basenjimama.

I agree about the probotics, but you can use ones for humans, I don't think you need to use the Purina one (of course unless price wise it is reasonable). Sweet potatoes are very good for dogs.. and really any veggie is good for them… mine love all different kinds... and friuits too... however since you are have issues with him and diet... I would go slowly in adding or changing thing. You might also want to read up on IPSID and/or IBD. Here is a link and you can find lots of infomation on the web. http://www.basenji.org/PUBLIC/HealthInfo.htm

[dmcarty]

in the old days you would wait to start urine testing but with the cheek swab now - you can do puppies - so I would do so especially if you are having a dog drinking a lot of water.

[Basenjimamma]

Dmcarty- I just saw what you wrote regarding the water drinking, is that a sign even in puppies? I mean can puppies develop signs of fanconi or do the dogs generally start showing later in life?
As far as water, Otis drank a lot, or at least so it seemed to me, when we first got him about a month ago (he was on Royale Canine then), but since I changed him and my other dogs to barf the drinking has subsided to very little/normal. So I of course did some searching online and found (somewhere on the net, don't really remember)that dogs that eat dry kibble tend to thirst more, in order to "rehydrate" the kibble in their stomachs (?). I don't know how true that is, but like I said Otis is drinking very little now.

[tanza]

Not Dmcarty… but the earliest that I have ever heard of a B with Fanconi is just short of two years. And for anyone that is testing, while it is recommended that you test once a month, since the test strips are only good for six months once opened, I tell people to test for 3 to 4 days in a row. When they first start showing symptoms of Fanconi (spilling sugar in the urine) it can skip days... once day show sugar one day and maybe not the next...

[Elscodobermann]

@tanza:

Not Dmcarty… but the earliest that I have ever heard of a B with Fanconi is just short of two years. And for anyone that is testing, while it is recommended that you test once a month, since the test strips are only good for six months once opened, I tell people to test for 3 to 4 days in a row. When they first start showing symptoms of Fanconi (spilling sugar in the urine) it can skip days... once day show sugar one day and maybe not the next...

Pat - im so glad i read this thread - i hadn't read or heard anywhere that Fanconi can manifest itself as early as that - everyone I have spoken to says 3 yrs - i will definately start striptesting Tilly straight away(she is 19 months at moment). - thanks.

Re vegetables in food - i always add some green veg to all my dogs food - they get Royal Canin, plus a sardine in oil, and usually some broccoli, cabbage etc - they all love it.

[tanza]

It is not that common that they would start to spill that early, but it can happen… and better sooner then later, IMO for testing....

[Basenjimamma]

Yes I agree,strip testing, I imagine, can't be that hard or time consuming, to the point that it is too much work to start earlier than later. I had no idea that B's could get it that young, but I am glad that I now know, in case we were to have to deal with it.

[bellabasenji]

Plain yogurt may be better for calcium than cheese and is more natural than the probiotics (has a similar effect). Also, I have read that pork can be bad for dogs and should be avoided… I sure hope you can get Barley feeling better soon!