Benny is 12 years old - a Beagle who was found by a Good Samaritan in May of 2007, wandering through the small plane hangers at a local airport. We took Benny in after he wasn’t claimed at the county animal shelter. He was already neutered and pleasantly plump, but his overall range of motion seemed quite limited. After a veterinary exam it was determined that he has some sort of chronic back injury - cervical, thoracic and lumbar. As a result, Benny will have to take steroids the rest of his life. Initially, we tried a non-steroid anti-inflammatory, but Benny’s condition never improved. However, we then tried small daily doses of Prednisone and today he is able to move with relative ease, wag his tail, and even enjoy tearing apart squeaky toys. Benny’s an accomplished “tenor” and loves the sound of his own voice. Although he has mild symptoms of early congestive heart failure, he’s unencumbered by them. Assuming he continues to respond to his back treatment and is with us for a while, we’ll deal with the heart issues as the symptoms arise. Until then, as always, our philosophy is centered on quality, not quantity of life.
Benny is very happy here and like most Beagles, he has a great personality. He feels so good these days that he actually stands up on his hind legs when he wants a little extra lovin’!
Considering that his range of movement was so limited and that he couldn’t look up at a person when spoken to because it was too painful, this young dog posturing that he’s been demonstrating lately brings a smile to all of us here..
