Benelli was diagnosed with ITP (immune-mediated thrombocytopenia) back in 2022. It eventually evolved into "Evan's Syndrome" which is a combination of ITP and IMHA (immune-mediated hemolytic anemia). Her body was destroying her blood platelets and red blood cells. At one point, she had 0 of both! It was a long and difficult fight with complications that arose from the treatment, but she thankfully recovered and was then free of ITP symptoms for 3 years!

Benelli had an ITP relapse in November 2025, which we had successfully treated and finally finished all meds for about 2 weeks ago. During the past 3 months, she developed severe pressure sores on her foot that would not heal due to being on prednisone, and a large lump on her hind end. Since finishing her ITP treatment, her foot was finally healing, but her "butt lump" was getting bigger and draining bloody fluid constantly. She has seen the vet several times for this, and we have been waiting for a culture of the fluid to come back.

This past Friday, February 13, Benelli's nose started bleeding, and blood shot out of her nose/mouth when she barked. We rushed her to the emergency vet in Manchester to find she was back down to 0 blood platelets. Due to the spontaneous bleeding, they transferred us to Westford for more specialized care. We checked Benelli in there just before midnight.

Today is Monday, February 16th and things have not improved. Her platelets went from 0 to 2k to 1k, and today they are at 6k. Normal is 150-500k. I spoke with the internal medicine specialist today and unfortunately now Benelli's red blood cells have dropped as well. She was at 33% (slightly low) when admitted, and today she is at 19%. At 15% they need to consider blood transfusion to buy more time to let the treatment work, as it can take longer to recover in a relapse situation.

I know, and all of Benelli's supporters know, how much of a fighter she is. She has overcome countless things in her life, and I don't feel like she's done yet. Even though the numbers are bad, she is still eating, drinking, bright and alert, and seeking affection. On Friday afternoon she was digging through her toy box looking for her favorite toy... and then played, chewed a bone, interacted with my other dogs, wanted treats, etc. She was (and still is) acting totally herself!

Benelli's supporters also know that we lost her pet insurance in January 2025 when Nationwide discontinued her plan and dropped us. They would not take her back on under a different plan, and left her essentially uninsurable with her long history of what would now be preexisting conditions.

If we still had Benelli's insurance, we would be doing absolutely everything we could to save her. But now, we're faced with making decisions we never would have.

Due to the cost of treatment and hospitalization, we have to decide if we are going to pull Benelli from the clinic before she's in the "safe zone" medically. This breaks my heart, because I would never make that decision normally.

I have already had the vets start transitioning Benelli to oral medications vs. the IV meds to try cutting some costs. But with her RBC now dropping today, there are going to be more measures that need to be taken in the coming days.

Right now, our estimated costs are as follows:

$733 - Paid to Manchester ER 2/13

$6,792.88 - First 48 hour quote at Westford

$1,000 - Blood transfusion

$600/day - ICU hospitalization

$1,200+/day - Meds, blood rechecks, ongoing care

Once Benelli is discharged, she will need to return to Westford every few days at first for blood tests and progress checks, which in the past have been around $600 each with the exam and tests. That could be $1200-1800 per week, which is not sustainable for us now.

I gave the go ahead to keep Benelli hospitalized until at least tomorrow (Tuesday), but we will have no choice but to check her out against medical advice after that. I did not want to create this campaign, but I also NEVER want to let Benelli down or have any doubts that I did everything humanly possible for her.

I'm setting this campaign goal at 15k to try and keep Benelli hospitalized until she is more stable and/or cover her ongoing treatment once discharged. If we can get Benelli out of this crisis, we have MONTHS ahead of countless vet appointments, meds, etc. Plus Benelli constantly needs supplies like pee pads, wipes and diaper pads that we go through incredibly fast while she's on prednisone. Honestly, 15k will likely not even be close to enough.

I hate asking for help again since we just did a campaign for Tinley's cancer last July, but I really have no choice if we're going to continue to fight for Benelli like she deserves.

Benelli's been through a lot in her life, but I know she is not done fighting yet. We can't give up on her.

Please consider donating to help us give Benelli the best chance at recovery from "Evan's Syndrome" (ITP/IMHA).

Thank you for your support!!