Posts made by Kiyamom

My Kiya got a lump exactly like you descibed. It was on her back thigh and never went away on it's own. I took her to the vet and they verified it was just a cyst and drained it. They said not to worry if it comes back, because it likely will. It would take surgery to remove permanently, but the vet said it's not worth it unless Kiya was going to be under anesthesia for another reason.

I've definately seen a variation in ear size among purebred basenjis. So don't let the ears throw you off. She defiantely looks part basenji to me.

I took Sammy to the vet this weekend for a few issues. The diarrhea was my biggest concern and fortunately it is clearing right up. However, I also asked about a pain in his snout which I thought was tooth pain. He screams in pain every once in a while if you bump his snout even lightly (I do mean scream too, as only you basenji owners can understand). He also stopped playing tug of war with Kiya. Sometimes he would scream in pain when nothing happened to him at all, he would just be sitting there. The vet did a very thourough check of his snout, neck, teeth even did x-rays. Sam never once screamed or made so much as a peep.

The vet found nothing. He thinks Sam probably did have an issue causing him pain at one point and it has since healed up. The vet thinks Sammy learned that when he screams he gets lots of attention from DH and I so now he does it for the attention and at the vet's office he didn't do it since the last thing he wants there is more attention. He was basically diagnosed as being an unruly teenager. The more I think about it, the more I believe the vet too. What makes him scream is so random from time to time, and often it's nothing at all. So good-bye to a large chunk of change to learn our dog is manipulating us for sympathy!

My Sammy likes to play catch with himself as well. He tosses his kong in the air and catches it. Usually he only does this after failing to convince his crabby older sister to join him in playtime, but once he gets started he is completely content to play toss by himself.

I thought I would give everyone an update on Kiya's condition. Her coat has recovered 100%. I think she just went through a summer shedding, and since this was our first summer with her I didn't know what it was. She now has her super soft puppy like fur back and seems to be doing great. Thanks for all of the advice, and now I know what to expect next summer.

I also have a skinny guy. He is up to an almost healthy 23 pounds now, but he is still ribby and you can see his hips pretty easily. He is a bit on the tall side, but I'm really not sure where his ideal weight would be. We've tried many of the same things you have. He is a picky eater, and while very food motivated for training, once you give him the treat he actually ignores it. Our boy is a bit younger though, only 1.5 years. After having him checked thouroughly at the vet, our vet believes he is simply a very active adolescent and as he ages he will start to carry the weight better. The vet says he's in excellent health, and while he's a bit underweight, it's not enough to be concerned about as it might be normal for him. He has the metabolism I wish I had! Good luck with Squiggy!

I think my Bs would do ok in Africa. I live in Phoenix which is about has hot as you can find in the US and they love the summer. They like to layout in the sun when its 105 outside. I make them come in and cool down. In the winter they start shivering if we're out on a walk and its in the 50s. I think they also enjoy our drought conditions, since they have to deal with rain so infrequently. I've actually thought about how the Bs will be the only ones to miss the Arizona heat when or if we ever move.

Kiya will run the B-500 some, but my Sammy is the true B-500 champion. We love it, since we know its burning away his destructive energy! It's really quite amazing to watch him use all the furniture. He truly vaults off the couches and its amazing how huge his jumps are and how long he stays airborne. My friends who have witnessed it are amazed.

He's adorable. No mistaking his basenji heritage.

That's a great picture, although I'm a little confused about which body belongs to which head. I know my pups would never sleep all piled up like that. The closest they ever get is curled up next to each other, but once Sam touches Kiya she gets grumpy.

Update…Kiya's thyroid came back completely normal. That's good news. At this point the vet suggests giving the fish oil and time to see if her coat resolves itself, as she suspects it could just be a natural change in her coat. If it gets worse or doesn't improve within a month or so she said we could do a skin biopsy. I really don't want to put Kiya through that though, unless it really becomes necessary. Since it doesn't seem to be bothering her I'll just keep monitoring it and hope its just seasonal shedding.

We're back from the vet. The vet ran the thyroid panel and we should hear back on the results Monday. Additionally, the gave me fish oil supplements and a special non-soap based dog shampoo that should alleviate the dryness in her skin and hopefully help in the meantime. Kiya also had a small bump on her left shoulder which we had checked out. I'm relieved to report it was just a cyst and nothing to be concerned about. So now we're playing the waiting game. Thanks for all of your advice. The vet also said she is the best behaved dog they ever work with and all of the vet techs always want her room. So Kiya is doing good PR work for the breed, which is nice since I know there is another family of 2 basenjis that goes to the same vet and their dogs are always very upset and snarly at the vet.

I have two BRAT basenjis. Neither is a yodeler, and in fact we had never heard so much as a single yodel from either one. We had tried teaching them to yodel, we downloaded clips of basenjis yodeling and my husband and I sat on the living room floor yodeling to the dogs all to no avail. Our Bs simply had no interest in singing.

Last Friday my Bs woke up bright and early as is typical in the summer. I let them outside to romp around while I laid back down in bed to catch a few more minutes of sleep. Imagine my surprise when I hear a loud and clear yodel from outside my bedroom window. I jumped out of bed and looked out the window to see Sam looking very startled. He then sticks his nose up in the air and lets loose another yodel! He was so excited about this new sound he discovered. He started prancing around the yard letting loose loud and long yodels for the next several minutes. He looked very proud of himself. Kiya still isn't a yodeler, she seems to think she's too dignified to make such a sound, but ever since Friday morning I now have 1 exhuberant yodeler! It will never be quiet around our house again.

Thank you Andrea. It's good to know that basenjis do blow their coats. But Kiya's has definately changed in texture too. She does seem to be more irritable too, if you ask Sam. She's never grumpy with her humans, but she's giving her B brother some extra attitude. The good news is she is just as spunky as always, she hasn't lost her energy at all. Hopefully, its nothing, but I will feel much better once I get this checked out. It's too bad my vet is on vacation for 2 weeks and I have to go with one of his associate vets at his office, I hope he's just as good.

Since I adopted Kiya in September she has always had the softest most beautiful coat. Though we believe she is 7 years old her coat has always been puppy soft, everyone who met her commented on it. Well over the past 2 months it has started to change. It is now much coarser than it used to be. In addition she is shedding a lot more than she ever did before. This is the first summer I've owned her, so I suppose it could be seasonal shedding, but our other basenji isn't shedding and I didn't think it was normal for basenjis to blow their coats. We feed her Solid Gold Hund N Flocken and she's been on that diet since January. I have a vet appointment for Friday, but I would love to go in with some ideas from more experienced basenji owners. Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks,
Karen

She's a very pretty girl!

Kiya: The goodsenji

Sam: The badsenji

Sam is a very affectionate boy, he's just still young and loves to get into trouble. Kiya is the best behaved dog I've ever had, basenji or no basenji. She was not a good indication of what a real basenji is really like.

Hello,

I am a proud basenji mom to two BRAT rescues. The ever adorable Kiya (in my avatar) and the obnoxious yet still lovable Sam. I'm fairly new to basenji ownership. My husband and I adopted Kiya last September. We were considering adding a 2nd basenji to our family in January when BRAT contacted us about needing a foster home for a young male. We ended up adopting that young guy and are now a 2 basenji (and 1 cat) household. We live in sunny Tolleson, Arizona and the B's approve of the dry, hot climate. I think they like it a lot more than the humans do.

I remember doing many searches on the web looking for a basenji board so I'm very glad that there is one now. Thank you for all the effort in getting this off the ground.

Karen