My name is Shelby Word, most of you reading this already know that. I apologize ahead of time for the long read but I want to make sure I provide all of the information, I tried to write in paragraphs so feel free to skip through. Thank you

Benny is the goodest boy in the whole world! He’s a 16 year old beagle/dachshund(lil corgi in him too maybe??) that is just the most unbelievably beautiful soul you’ll ever meet. He was my grandfather’s right hand man for a decade & a half and would do anything for the people he loves. His human, Bill Word, passed away in April and I’ve been taking care of his precious Benny since November. Benny and I grew up together and I would do absolutely anything in this world for him.

Right now he’s been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney disease and could have multiple infections going on as well that the doctors are currently working on trying to identify and treat. He’s still very mobile, going on (slow) walks, getting excited to see me come home, doing tricks for treats…

But last night (June 15/16) we spent 4-5hrs at the emergency vet due to how much fluid he had lost throughout the day while I was at work, not able to hold food, water, or medicine down.

Today he has been hospitalized, the only way we will know if he’s able to come out of this is to start treatment, if it helps then that means he still has some life in him that I would not dare let slip away without at least trying to help. If it doesn’t help, then we know he’s going to keep declining to a point where I’ll have to make a really hard decision.

Right now his Vet bills are racking up, we’re at $815.91 total for his vet visits the past week and his ER visit last night. From being hospitalized today, just for today so far the total is around $600 and will go up by at least $100 each day he’s there. They plan to keep him at least until Wednesday to do a follow up on bloodwork after continuous care to see if he can be helped further in this. The bloodwork alone on Wednesday will be $163 from my understanding. After the bloodwork, if it turns out that treatment is helping after-all then it will need to be continued and the price will keep going up. If we get to the point of having a quality of life conversation anytime soon, the cost for bringing him peace is approximately $100-$200 plus however much the cost of cremation is…

I love Benny so much. He deserves the world but unfortunately I don’t have the means to be able to give him the world… but I will try my hardest to give him the love and care he deserves. There have been quite a few things in the past year to set me back financially; 2 broken bones, 1 totaled car, lots of medical bills, lots of missed work due to these things and the loss of my grandfather(Benny’s human), taking on the financial responsibility of an elderly dog as well.

I will do anything that I have to do to make sure that Benny is happy and as comfortable as he can possibly be in his final days, that hopefully will not be this year, and I would very much appreciate any type of help I can get making sure that I can keep all the bills paid. My goal in this is to be able to do whatever needs to be done for Benny, AND be able to provide for myself and my fur babies throughout and after this journey ahead. Your help, any help you can provide is very greatly appreciated, even sharing Benny’s journey and getting it out there.

He is currently being treated at Auburn Animal Hospital if anyone would like to call and pay any of his bills directly or check on him.

Their contact information:

770-995-0908

[email redacted]

if you’d like to help me out directly (not through gofundme) my cashapp is $ShelbyWord , my zelle is my phone number for those that have it, and my Venmo is @shelbyword

With my whole heart, thank you