Wonderful to hear that you got in contact with her. She seems like the greatest person to have on your side if thyroid issues are in the mix.
I hope you will find the correct treatment and that Bing will be back to his old self before you know it.
There's one big red face here. Bing has hyp_o_parathyroidism, the result of an auto-immune problem. This results in under-absoption of calcium, hence the need for the calcium/vitD supplement. I understand that it is incurable so we can only hope to stabilise it. At least we should be able to stop the dreadful seizures.
I was truly amazed to have had an almost instant response from Jean Dodds, despite her currently travelling internationally. Even more impressive was her immediate response to my subsequent reply! A truly dedicated lady….
We're glad to hear you know what's going on and hopefully can manage it successfully the rest of Bing's life. Yes, Jean is really great about helping with problems. Please keep us updated on how he's doing.
Glad you ,have got Bings problem identified. Hopefully once you have got him on the correct treatment things will settle down.
Welcome to you and your family both human and animal to the forum. Re putting pics on when you have time look in the help section there is info about how to get pics on.
I've just uploaded 1 pic - of Bing (in happier days) & our wonderful Great Dane dog (Logan) who we lost just 4 years ago.
Very good news to hear that you know what Bing's problem's are able to help him I am so very happy for you. I liked reading abour your large family that sound very nice.
My uncle was called Bing all his life hie real name was Gliva so I might have wanted to use Bing. We have a tree in our front yard that my Uncle grew from a nut off his tree and we call our tree Uncle Bing.
Take great care and there will be happy days once again for Bing.
Rita Jean
Rita Jean
Lovely pic of Bing and Logan
Thankfully, little Bing had a quieter day - no more seizures or twitches. He even began hunting round the kitchen floor for any morsels dropped by Pepsi the cat!
The next challenge is to get him to eat more but at least he's doing better than yesterday in that respect.
Thankfully, little Bing had a quieter day - no more seizures or twitches. He even began hunting round the kitchen floor for any morsels dropped by Pepsi the cat!
The next challenge is to get him to eat more but at least he's doing better than yesterday in that respect.
That's great news! :)Thanks for the update as we are always concerned when there's a sick or lost pet.
I agree, that is great news..every little step in the right direction..
Thanks for the update Mike, glad Bing is doing better
Okay, well, hypO makes more sense for a dog than hypER. (Dogs are almost always hypO and cats are almost hypER.) HypO is where the body is not making enough; hypER is the body making too much. And, just for a little good news, it's usually easier to deal with a hypO situation than a hyper. You just add to what the body is doing, whereas it is much more difficult to supress something the body is doing. (hope all that made a grain of sense.)
And I'm glad to hear Bing is on the upswing.
As far as eating:
http://www.maryshouse.us/Recipes.htm
my pups love the muttloaf; i make about 1/2 at a time. may want to add some probiotics to help.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Actually Agile…in the case of Bing it is HyperPARA not just hypeR...quite a bit more complicated. 
In humans they many times do surgery.
I'm relieved that Bing now has a diagnosis, at least he can have treatment and be able to manage it somewhat. It's good to hear that he is on an upswing.
renaultf1 - what does Hyperpara mean in the terms of a disease?
Opps, i thought the OP came back and said it was hypOpara, not hyperpara?
I don't know anything about the *para part, but I do know it is almost always easier to add than supress a body's production of hormones.
Agile…my bad, it is hypo...but still para.
OK, here goes. There are two quite separate hormone-producing glands: the thyroid & the parathyroid, either of which can cause problems if they go wrong.
Hyper means excessive activity & hypo means under-activity. Hyper can be caused by a tumour on the gland or by kidney problems. Hypo, which Bing has, is caused by autoimmune deficiency where the body effectively fights itself. In the latter case the seizures are caused by a calcium deficiency which results.
His calcium tablets, which he has been having for months, contain vitD but not enough for him to absorb the calcium fully so he, from Monday, now has a stronger vitD supplement. To complicate things he has been on a steroid to stimulate his appetite, the loss of which is linked to the condition. These tend to supress the ability to absorb calcium!
Anyway we are progressing slowly with his calcium levels needing to checked every two weeks for now.
Mike
I hope he bounces back and will start eating again. Sounds like you are on the right track, please let us know how Bing is doing on his regimen.
Is this fairly uncommon?
Hi Mamma!
Well, I'm not sure how common it is in Basenjis - I suspect it might be more common than in other breeds. We have owned 20+ dogs over the years - almost all Danes - and haven't had anything like it before.
Jean Dodds has promised me she'll be in touch when she reaches Europe so I might find out more then.
Mike
Good to hear, Mike.
I had a mutt that passed away in April, he had the more common hypothyroidism, no -para. But with all my other dogs, none have had thyroid issues…
Actually, hypOparathyroid is really uncommon in humans - it is much more common to have hypeRparathyroid - which is usually detected by too much calcium in the blood. I wonder if it is really uncommon in animals as well.
Kind of interesting because I'm pretty sure my endocrinologist said it is opposite with the regular thyroid - hypOthyroid is more common than hypeRthyroid.
It will be really interesting to hear what Dr. Dodds has to say. If you don't mind, please keep us posted.
And did I say that I love the name Bing - really cute! 
