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Fanconi Syndrome: To Fear or
Not to Fear
(a story about a rescue basenji whose
name is now Alex)
By: Claudia Nix
Fanconi
Syndrome. Two words that strike
fear in the hearts of all basenji
owners.
I'm sure many of us can relate to the monthly ritual of dipping the
chemstrip
in urine and waiting for the results. We
might even think we are
used
to this little routine and that it's really no big deal. But I bet
most
of us are surprised when we realize we've been holding our breath, only
exhaling
a sigh of relief when the color of the strip remains unchanged.
For
those who have lived, or are living, with Fanconi afflicted dogs you
know
this disease in a way that no book, veterinarian or article can
explain.
For those who have not had any personal experience with Fanconi
Syndrome,
this disease looms in the back of your mind with all its terrible
mystery
and the uncertain threat of something that may or may not rear its
ugly
head. Until recently, I fell
into this latter category. I had
heard
the
word "Fanconi" many times, knew the basics about it, strip-tested my
basenjis
monthly and occassionally pondered the idea of what it would be like
to
have a basenji with this syndrome. But
I had never actually had to DEAL
with
the disease. And then I walked into
the Joliet Animal Control
(Illinois),
and was greeted with the funniest sight--a basenji on stilts!
Well,
he wasn't really on stilts but I don't know how else to describe the
length
of this red and white boy's legs. I'd
never seen such long legs on a
basenji
before. I promptly turned to my 3
year old son and asked, "What
would
you like to call him?" Without
missing a beat, Jack replied, "Mr.
Tree."
And so our new rescue boy had a name.
He
was such a sweet boy, letting me pick him up, check his teeth, handle all
his
feet and even allowing me to plant a few kisses on his bony little
head.
I was thinking that he might be pretty easy to place as I pulled into
the
parking lot at my vet's office. He needed a full check up, vaccinations,
rabies
shot, and a heartworm and fecal
check. At the last minute I was
lucky
enough to collect a urine sample so I handed that to the vet tech and
asked
her to check it for sugar. The vet
was happy with his overall
condition.
Despite being slightly underweight and shedding profusely, he
seemed
to be in great shape. Then the vet
tech popped her head into the
room
to tell us that Mr. Tree was
spilling sugar in his urine. My
heart
sank
and suddenly the monster reared its ugly head and I came face to face
with
it: Fanconi Syndrome. True,
he could have been suffering from
diabetes
but I doubted it. I asked the Dr.
to take more blood so we could
do
a blood glucose test. If the
results of that test were normal, then we
were
most definitely dealing with Fanconi. My
head began to reel with a
million
unanswered questions --Who would adopt him? What should I do next?
How
would I take care of him? Through
it all, a name kept emerging and
like a mantra it grew louder and louder in my mind: Dr. Steve Gonto, Dr.
Steve
Gonto, Dr. Steve Gonto...
I raced home and immediately got on the computer,
desperately searching out
any
information I could find. I was
suddenly getting a crash course in
Fanconi
Syndrome. Basenji Companions,
an organization dedicated to the pet
basenji,
has a wonderful website with many terrific articles on the disease
and
this is where I focussed my attention. I
fired off a quick email to Dr.
Steve
Gonto, the man responsible for developing the Fanconi Protocol that
has
saved the lives of hundreds of Fanconi afflicted basenjis, and then I
settled
down to read through the protocol and all the articles that I had
printed
up.
After
reading all I could, emailing with various basenji owners across the
country
and making several phone calls, a couple things began to emerge; 1)
I
had to make arrangements to have a Venous Blood Gas Panel done on Mr. Tree
in
order to determine his particular supplemental
needs so I could properly
implement
the protocol and 2) the Fanconi Protocol wasn't nearly as
intimidating
as I thought it would be. I could
do this. It was going to be
OK.
Things
began to fall into place more quickly than I could have dreamed.
Dr.
Gonto's
quick reply to my email came as a complete, yet very welcomed,
surprise.
I didn't expect him to be so accessible. His
response to me was
encouraging
and kind. He pointed me in the
right direction and gave me some
suggestions
on some immediate things I could do to start treating Mr. Tree.
I
started Mr. Tree on a quality, high-protein diet, made sure he had access
to
plenty of fresh drinking water and began giving him a Pet Tabs Plus
vitamin
daily. Within 24 hours of Mr.
Tree's first vet visit, he was
diagnosed
with Fanconi Syndrome. My vet was
wonderful. He, too, had
printed
up a copy of the Fanconi Protocol from the internet and together we
learned
about the disease as we tackled it head-on.
The
results of his Venous Blood Gas Panel were encouraging and Dr. Gonto
confirmed
my treatment plan of three Sodium Bicarbonate tabs in the a.m. and
three
in the p.m. (Some basenjis take as many as 30 Bicarb tabs daily in
addition
to other vitamins and supplements!). In
addition to the Bicarb
tabs,
Mr. Tree would need two Pet Tab Plus tabs a day, two Pet Cal tabs a
day
and a Centrum Vitamin and an Amino Fuel tab once a week. He would also
need
to visit the vet every six months (at least), for continued blood work
and
monitoring of his condition so his protocol could be adjusted
accordingly.
During
the time when I was figuring out Mr. Tree's protocol and getting him
started
on it, I put the word out via BRAT that I had a very special boy in
need
of a very special home. I didn't
know if anyone would be interested in
adopting
a basenji with Fanconi but I was thrilled when I started getting
inquiries
about him. I received applications
from twelve families in all
and
knew, without a doubt, that this was what made rescue work worth all the
heartache
and effort.
In
the end I decided that Lee Ann and Phillip ***** would provide the
perfect,
loving home that Mr. Tree so desperately needed. They share their
home
with cats and 3 basenjis, including , Jack, who also has fanconi.
On
April
26, 2000 Mr. Tree flew out of Chicago's O'Hare airport on American
Airlines,
non-stop to Portland, Oregon and into the arms of his new family.
Mr.
Tree gave me a crash course in Fanconi Syndrome and I was lucky to
muddle
through the lesson with such a sweet boy. He's a very easy dog to
love
While Fanconi Syndrome is still not curable, thanks to Dr. Steve Gonto's
protocol,
it is controllable and a Fanconi diagnosis is no longer synonomynous
with
an immedediate death sentence. Basenji
owners have been using the
protocol
for years and watching their Fanconi afflicted dogs reach old age.
Because of Mr. Tree, I am no longer so
fearful and intimidated by
Fanconi.
Sometimes tackling a job is far less daunting than just THINKING
about
tackling a job. My intentions here
are not to make light of this
disease
and give the impression that it's an easy cross to bear.
It's a
very
serious disease and should be taken seriously but a diagnosis of
Fanconi
Syndrome doesn't have to be the end
of the world. And
more
importantly...it
doesn't have to be the end of your beloved basenji's world.
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