Hello, my name is Courtney. I started this GoFundMe to give support to my sister Bailey and her dog’s Beau and Knox.

Last week, Bailey brought Beau and Knox (the shepherd) to the vet for their routine shots. During the visit, the vet noticed Beau had two teeth with exposed nerves that needed to be pulled as soon as possible. His surgery was scheduled for Friday.

A few days before Beau’s surgery, Knox suddenly became sick. He threw up anything he ate, even a little treat, and he refused to eat at all. You could tell he wasn’t himself.

Friday came and while Beau was in for his surgery, Knox went in for an appointment to figure out what was wrong. The vet was worried he had an obstruction, so they did X-rays and bloodwork. They couldn't figure out what exactly was wrong. He was given medication and sent home.

Beau’s surgery went well and everyone at the vet complimented how good his teeth looked! Bailey took him home, but she immediately felt something was off. He was very uncomfortable. He started peeing in the house, which he never does, and every five minutes he would try to go but it was only a tiny dribble.

Bailey looked up possible causes, especially since he had just been under anesthesia. She saw that anesthesia can sometimes affect bladder control, so she decided to watch him over the weekend. Sadly, it didn’t get any better.

On Monday, she took him back to the vet to figure out what was going on. They had to sedate him again to take X-rays. The X-rays showed that Beau has an enlarged prostate and a very swollen bladder. They drained 800 ml of urine from his bladder. He was sent home with five more medications.

Last night during his walk, Beau did not pee at all. This morning, he tried several times but nothing came out.

Beau is now back at the vet waiting for an emergency doctor from downtown to do an ultrasound to see if he has bladder stones.

Knox refused to eat this morning and puked this afternoon. If it doesn't clear up, there is a chance there is he will need surgery to clear whatever the obstruction is.

Beau is part of a “Guardianship” program, which basically means Bailey is his owner but he wasn’t allowed to be neutered because the breeder was planning to use him as a donor for future litters. Now that his health is at risk, everyone has agreed he will be neutered. The vet believes this may be what caused the bladder issues. It just happened that all of this started at the same time as his dental problems.

Bailey doesn’t know I’m making this fundraiser. It hurts to see my sister and her babies going through so much. Bailey is such a good dog mom and she works so hard to pay for everything she has, but this is a huge financial hit all at once, especially with the holidays coming up. She would never ask for help herself because she feels embarrassed to do so, even though anyone would struggle with this amount of unexpected costs happening all at once.

So far, before today’s bill, Beau’s vet bills are at $4,400 and Knox’s were $1,000. Today’s ultrasound will be about another $1,000, and that still doesn’t include the cost of his neutering or any follow-up care he may need. On top of all of this, Bailey also just had to fix her truck, which she depends on for work, that alone was $3,000. If Knox ends up needing surgery, it’s hard to guess what that will cost until we know the issue. After everything is said and done, she will be at least $10,000 in the hole, and that is an overwhelming amount for anyone to face all at once.

I am so thankful you took the time to read this. If you are able to donate anything to help my sister and her dogs during this extremely stressful time, we would all be so grateful.

Thank you so much.