@basenjicurious
It’s great that you’re doing your homework on the basenji. I think the reason you read all these “horror stories” is because they are not your typical dog. They are a beautiful and highly intelligent breed with a very strong prey drive. My Kembe is my first basenji but I was familiar with the breed because my brothers were basenji owners. I got her when she was 1years old - she was returned to the breeder by the previous owners. Kembe has never been destructive, she has free reign of our house, and I can leave her at home alone. It’s extremely important to exercise them regularly - especially exercise and stimulate their minds, and establish a routine (I can set my watch to my dog). They are definitely trainable - it scares me to see how smart she is and also well behaved. Basenjis are extremely lovable and hilariously funny. If I have a treat that my dog especially likes - she will do her whole “repertoire of tricks” without me even asking her. She dances to let me know it’s time to eat and will sit right next to me and hit me with her paw when she wants to go for her walk.
I think our basenji chose us - when we went to the breeders home to look at her - She jumped up next to my husband on the couch and curled up! I was sold on her! I really hope you find a basenji that right for you!
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Basenji Diarrhea and blood streaked vomit
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Our 6 year old Basenji has been sick on and off since Easter weekend. Our vet isn't too alarmed and we have been giving her a diet of boiled chicken breasts and rice for week now with no avail.
Any takers?
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Have they checked for Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI)?
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Have you tried adding some canned pumpkin to her diet? I understand a tablespoon mixed in her food may help firm things up a bit. Hope she feels better soon.
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Our 6 year old Basenji has been sick on and off since Easter weekend. Our vet isn't too alarmed and we have been giving her a diet of boiled chicken breasts and rice for week now with no avail.
Any takers?
Have you done blood work? I would be concerned if going on that long? And I would be even more concerned with a Vet that was "not" concerned
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I think Pat is right, you need a new vet. I would be frantic! Hope she is better so, if not, I would take her to another vet for second opinion.
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Absolutely- time to go to another vet. I can't imagine a vet not wanting to look into such a problem further after it had gone on for several weeks and nothing seemed to improve it. Diarrhea- and BLOOD in the vomit!- that has been going on this long needs to be taken seriously.
If a bland diet doesn't help the problem within 2-3 days, you can generally rule out an acute episode caused by something they'd eaten or some kind of food intolerance. There's an off chance your dog has an allergy or an inability to digest chicken….if both the bland diet & her normal food contain chicken it COULD be the culprit. Might be worth asking the vet....I believe there are allergy tests they can do that would indicate a food allergy? It isn't good to feed a bland diet for too long...it's not nutritionally complete for proper maintenance....and if it isn't working anyway, it's time to dig deeper.
I'd start with a fecal analysis to check for parasites (even if your vet's done it already it can't hurt to check again) and go from there. If you see blood in the vomit, bring a sample of the bloody vomit to the vet as well. Bloodwork would be the next step. Ivoss mentioned EPI, and I agree it's smart to check for it....it's definitely worth researching so that YOU know what questions you might want to ask the vet, here's a link:
http://www.epi4dogs.com/If bloodwork was inconclusive I'd then want to do X-rays to rule out a tumor or something- which can also be a cause of blood in the vomit & digestive issues.
Only other thought, if he happens to be eating Blue Buffalo dog food….I recently had a problem with one of my dogs who suddenly had intermittent diarrhea. Ruled everything else out- a change in kibble fixed the problem overnight, so it had to be the food. The company confirmed they'd done a "minor" formula change that was supposed to make the food easier to digest. It apparently didn't sit too well with Jibini. I have not encountered any other owners with similar complaints, and my other dog ate it with no issues. It may have just been an isolated issue with my one dog, I feel Blue is still a good food....but I figured I'd mention it just in case.
Hope you get to the bottom of her problem soon. Let us know what you find out.
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Have vet run special check for Giardia parasite, if left unchecked can do lots of damage. Have had two pups with it, first one we did not catch early, took longer to treat, second one, first sight a sheen of blood on rear we were there, and it was same parasite, both pups from up above Dallas / Arlington, apparently pretty common in that area. Good luck.
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Did you ever find out what the problem was?
