30/12 Sadly Benji’s abdominal mass had grown to a size it was pressing on his stomach and diaphragm causing him to be sick and have breathing issues. It was decided the kindest thing was to let him go. Sleep tight little one xx
Benji is a lovely 14 year old German Spitz who came into Oldies Club care in March 2020 after his one owner sadly passed away and the other moved into pet free accommodation.
When Benji first arrived he took some time to settle and was rather anxious to start. Thankfully over time he has settled more and more. For his age Benji seemed in pretty good nick although he had a fair few fatty lumps and few teeth. Unfortunately a mass was discovered in his abdomen. After a scan it was discovered poor Benji had several masses on his liver and one in his bladder although this one is not currently causing any issues. It is unknown if the masses are cancerous or benign but as the prognosis is poor it was decided to not put Benji through surgery.
Due to his health concerns and unknown time left, Oldies Club made the decision to place Benji in our sponsor dog scheme, which means he will remain at his lovely foster home on a permanent basis, with the charity paying his vet bills for the rest of his life.
Despite his issues Benji defies his 14 years. He thinks he is still a young pup, especially when he sees his fosterers putting their shoes on. He gets so excited, jumps around the room and barks at them to hurry up when he thinks he is going for a walk and when they don’t take him when he is ready for his walk he lets them know.
Benji loves being out and as soon as he leaves the house he spends the first 5 minutes barking at everyone and announcing his presence even when there is no one around. He energetically races ahead on his extendable lead and then quickly gets distracted by a smell he catches a whiff of and stops for ages.
He is very inquisitive around other dogs and regardless of how big they are he happily trots over to say hello and if they get a bit frisky or too playful, he is not afraid to stand his ground or square up to them (not in an aggressive way) and put them in their place. He thinks he is the size of a German Shepherd not a little German Spitz.
Benji loves cuddles and affection but on his terms and doesn’t like too much fuss. He always wants to have his fosterers in his sight and if they are in separate rooms he will position himself between the two locations.
Benji is a lovely little dog who has lots of endearing characteristics and his foster family love having him around. Their only problem with Benji is the early morning wake up call when he needs to go out to the loo but he is a old man after all. Even then he is so pleased to see them and makes such a fuss that they can’t be cross at him. He gets so excited he almost forgets he needs to pee.
If you would love to offer a home to an oldie but your circumstances aren’t suitable, perhaps you would be kind enough to sponsor Benji, or one of the other special oldies we are caring for in our sponsor dog scheme.