So, our boy Snoopy has now decided that he no longer likes Liverwurst.
HUGE PROBLEM.
I now find myself looking for things to bury his pills in.
Cheese?
Nope. Walked away from it.
Canned Dog Food with special gravy mixed in?
Nope. Ate most of the food, licked the gravy and left all the pills.
Hot Dogs?
Nope. Ate the meat and left the pills.
Sushi?
Don’t ask.
Frozen Cocktail Meatballs?
Sometimes, but he usually ends up spitting out a few of the pills and I have to manually get them down his gullet.
Its been huge fun.
NOT.

Snoopy had his annual visit to the vet this morning……he got his shots, heartworm check, urine check, etc….was talking to the Doctor about his Fanconi Syndrome and how he seems to be handling the treatment (wonder if I can get him one of those medical jewelry tags to hang on his collar?!), and the vet was nice enough to ask how I was handling all of it. I kind of looked at him like..”Huh?”…and he said that some people may not handle being able to care for an animal like that and would just give them up or put them down…..(I must have had a shocked look on my face)…I told him that it never occured to me how I was handling it, my concern is for Snoopy and how his health is and how he is doing on the treatment program…and doing everything I could to ensure he had a healthy and happy life.
Period.
While it was a major shock when he was first diagnosed, and it took me a while to get used to the treatment - he is my dog, part of my family and I love him unconditionally - taking care of him is my job as his Mom.
Period.
The Doctor told me he admired my committment to Snoopy, which was very nice - even though I never thought about it that way.

We went to a local dog park today to meet up with some other Basenji’s and their owners from the Yahoo Group I belong to. As you can see, the dogs had a lot of fun together, and it’s always nice to talk to other Basenji owners who understand the breed!
That’s Snoopy in the middle of the “Circle of Basenji’s”….! It was wierd, I’m so used to him being the only Basenji at the park, that it’s easy to keep an eye on him….not today! He kept getting lost in that pack of brown, as they all ran around together. He was the tallest Basenji there.

There he is with the only female that attended, Savannah - she’s sooo cute!
!

I was wrong.
The Vet called me yesterday, it seems Snoopy does NOT have a UTI, which I found interesting seeing as he had the symptoms. He advised me to keep giving him the antibiotic for a full week since I had already started it, and I have to bring him in for his annual exam in a few weeks anyway.

Snoopy has another UTI. This time the vet gave us a 12 day round of Clavamox! Poor poocher, I may have to put him in drug rehab when this is over! I am lucky though, as all I have to do is call my vet’s office when I see the signs of a UTI, and they order me up a round of antibiotic, I drop off a urine sample and pick up the meds! The vet will call me on Monday with the results, which I am sure will come back positive. He has all the signs, frequent unquenchable thirst, and frequent urination. He was trying to drink out of puddles on our walk this morning! With the Fanconi affecting his kidneys, when he drinks the water does not filter through them and into the rest of his body, it spills right over into his bladder. So, when he empties a bowl, he has to relieve himself immediately.
I was already going by the vet this morning to pick up his food, so I just had them add it to our order. I’m thnking I am going to have to start up a “Snoopy Fund”, as these little bouts with infection are getting costly at $90 a pop, and I just got him over one at Christmas, so this one came pretty quick! But, this is the route we have been put on with Fanconi Syndrome, and I’d rather spend the extra money to keep my boy happy and healthy.
I got an email from my Yahoo Basenji Group I belong to, there is a Basenji outing next Saturday at a local dog park! We are going to attend, it will give Snoopy a chance to romp with other Basenji’s, and maybe I can meet some other’s dealing with Fanconi and exchange ideas.

I stopped at the vet this morning when I was running errands..had called them a few days ago to report that I suspected he had a UTI. Since he was diagnosed with Fanconi Disease, he is prone to them and I can see the signs of one almost immediately…so all I have to do is call it in, they get an antibiotic for him and I drop off a urine sample when I pick up the pills. Other than his frequent UTI’s, he has shown no other side effects of the Fanconi, it seems Dr Gonto’s treatment protocol is working very well for us, and I am grateful! He is back to being a healthy rambunctious pooch…and has even put on about 5 lbs due to all the liverwurst that I hide his pills in!

Christmas preparations are moving along nicely…the tree is done, the annual picture has been taken, adn the cards are in the mail. I have a few gifts to wrap, and am, starting my baking this evening, hope to have it all done this weekend so I can mail a few things out and have them arrive before Christmas!

Today is my Boy’s 8th birthday!!! He’ll be getting extra hugs and kisses , and some turkey gravy on his dinner !!!

The Momma is going out of town for a few days, again, business trip this time - so Snoopy is headed over to our friends for a sleepover! The weather is a bit cooler, and he loves to run in their yard, so I’m sure he’s going to have a good time!

I e-mailed all of Snoopy’s blood work results to Dr Steve Gonto, the vet who created the Fanconi Syndrome Treatment Protocol,  to get his opinion and see if we needed to tweak his treatment, here is his response: