Hi! I’m June and I am the proud mama of what feels like the world’s most resilient geriatric 15 year old chihuahua named Benny. As Benny has began aging into the handsome old man he is now, he’s acquired some ailments. 3 years ago he was diagnosed with Mitral Valve Disease (MVD) a disease that affects his heart. He’s also been diagnosed with kidney disease and a sludgy gallbladder. I have always been the sole provider for Benny’s care. This includes his twice a year senior check ups, constant follow up labs to monitor his kidney values, echocardiograms with a specialist to monitor his murmur/heart disease, daily medications (I call it our mini pharmacy), acupuncture and supplement care for his achy bones, prescription diet to support his kidneys and much more.

December of 2024 we had our first big scare and he bloated after coming home with me from work, I rushed him back to his primary care hospital and they were able to decompress his tummy and get out the gas, he once again survived what felt like the impossible. He truly is so strong and brave. However, this has brought on huge anxiety at the vet and he’s at risk of bloating if he is there for too long as he gets too stressed and begins ingesting too much air for his tummy to handle rather quickly.

In June of this year he was in an incident that resulted in facial paralysis of the right side of his face that affected his eye and it was 2 months of around the clock care keeping his eye lubricated and comfortable as we waited for him to hopefully regain movement in his face and eyelid…which he did! Again, SO resilient.

Now for the incident that has pushed me to create this campaign for my boy. On the evening of 11/6/25 Benny began emitting odd breathing patterns and sounded wheezy. I took his sweater off to make him more comfortable and got him settled in a cozy spot and he seemed to calm down. However, a few hours later I heard his wheezy breathing again, checked on him and he was completely lethargic and unresponsive. I held him and comforted him and truly thought I was losing him in that moment. We took him to Specialty Hospital of Roseville to get him immediate care. They placed him in an oxygen kennel to stabilize him and proceeded with chest x-rays and complete work up of labs. They were concerned he could be in congestive heart failure. He spent several hours at the ER while the amazing team assisted him and other sick patients. We got the results of his radiographs and turns out it was his trachea causing the issues and he was diagnosed with lower airway disease. They also noted his heart was mildly enlarged and has an enlarged liver. His labwork showed high potassium levels and they are also concerned of potential addisons disease. He was able to come home with us that night and with this new information we took him to his primary vet the next day to get follow up care and advice. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful care team at Foothill Farms and Dr. Carney has always been so attentive to Benny (and patient with me and my what feels like weekly follow ups!!) She performed the follow up exam and upon listening to his heart again she heard that he has an arrhythmia going on on top of everything else.

This has all been very overwhelming and there are many pieces to this puzzle of Benny and his ailments. From here he is going to need further diagnostics with his cardiologist specialist to track his arrhythmia so we can find out best treatment options for him at home. This will require him to wear a heart monitor for 24 hours to track his patterns.

He will also be in need of another echocardiogram to recheck the state of his enlarged heart and where his MVD is at, ultrasound with a board certified specialist to recheck his gallbladder and check in on his enlarged liver to see how we can treat that. An ACTH Stim Test to check his cortisol levels to get a confirmed diagnosis of the addisons disease and this will all likely be followed with new treatment plans and new medications added to his already hefty regimen.

Monitoring his airway disease is a whole other can of worms. We are unsure if/when he will have another flare up but getting him on oxygen with a sedative completely did the trick to stabilize him and keep him comfortable enough to calm down and return back to his normal state. However, his radiographs at the ER also showed air building up in his stomach so once again he was trying to bloat due to the stress of being at the vet. I have to take this into consideration when thinking of his long term care as the bloat is extremely serious and could result in death if not immediately treated. With that all in mind, our best bet is to get a stronger sedative for at home (like buprenorphine) and an oxygen kennel that we can have on stand by to place him in if he gets another flare up relating to his lower airway disease (if it seems reasonably manageable and not life threatening). This completely removes the risk of bloat and will allow him a space to snap out of it that he feels comfortable and safe in.

With all this being said, I am looking at a very financially overwhelming next several months as we get everything locked down for his care and new treatment plans and diagnostics. I have always proceeded with any and all diagnostics and treatments that my boy needs to thrive and feel comfortable. Benny is my heart dog and the first geriatric dog I’ve been the sole provider for. But this time, getting all of his necessary care is not within my financial abilities. I am seeking help for Benny to get the diagnosis confirmed for these newly found ailments and help for the treatment that is going to come along with those. Getting together an at home oxygen kennel/safe zone for Benny is high priority as well and will be costly. My whole world has been turned upside down and all of this feels rather paralyzing but I know I need to take action and act fast for the sake of Benny and his health so we can get it under control and hopefully gain more time earth side with my boy. Benny steals the hearts of everybody he meets and I want him to be able to continue to thrive in his golden years.

Thank you SO much in advance,

June and Benny