Bentley. Hypospadia. The cases you cannot win and the reason you never stop trying.

This is Bentley's story from the perspective of his foster mom... her name is Jenn.

"Our Bentley,

If love and hope could have saved our Bentley we would have had this one in the bag, but Bentley needed far more than our love and hope, he needed a miracle.  The hardest of realities is that sometimes we don’t get to see those miracles come to fruition.  Sometimes all we have is peace in knowing we tried everything possible to save a soul who wanted so badly to be saved.

We met Bentley in March of 2020, at the cusp of a pandemic.  His breeder, (accidental breeding), Kista,  had reached out to anyone and everyone who could potentially help Bentley. Bentley was born at her home, but, he wasn't a normally functioning puppy. Kista found a home for him, however, they became overwhelmed with his care and returned him.  After visits to numerous veterinarians and specialists she too became overwhelmed.  A costly surgical plan was laid out with no promises.  Funds were raised but not quick enough and not to the extent to cover the very costly surgery.  Bentley’s breeder knew either he received the help he needed, or, he would have to be humanely euthanized as his life had been reduced to suffering.  You see Bentley was born with deformities to the urogenital system that left him constantly leaking urine and in a constant state of infection; both in the form of urinary tract infections and severe urine scald and subsequent skin infections.  At only 5 months old Bentley associated any touch to his hind end with pain, and rightfully so.

The night we met him a quick gaze into his soulful milky-brown eyes and we were smitten.  Bentley wanted to live and he was worth a try.  The stars aligned; a rescue we often work with was available to have him signed over, donors promised to honor their donation and a skillful surgeon all came together along with our team at JVC.  Four days later Bentley received his surgical consult with Dr. Runnels, he was a candidate for surgery, best case scenario he could be fixed both internally and externally and live a happy healthy life, worst case scenario he would continue to leak urine.  Bentley had a surgical plan….and hope.  A week later he returned to Lititz Veterinary Center for surgery.  Surgery revealed ectopic ureters, a challenge to say the least, surgery was completed in the wee hours of the morning and two days later he was in his foster home.

Initially we were hopeful, Bentley seems to have some bladder control, his urine culture revealed antibiotic resistance and gave us an idea of which antibiotics to treat with.  A week of IV antibiotics and he seems a little better.  A happy, playful puppy emerged.  Full of wiggles and wrinkles and kisses.  His foster mom, Jenn, bathed him three times a day to keep the urine off his skin and his skin healed.  He met his happy-go-lucky furry foster sister and the two-legged foster siblings too.  He loved everyone he met, except the cats!  His foster dad practiced leash manners with him as they spent many hours walking together.  We wish life could have continued like this for Bentley.

One day Jenn noticed a second opening while Bentley was urinating; during his surgery an opening was created just under his anus for him to urinate from, one opening.  Now there were two.  His leaking increased and progressed to absolutely no bladder control at all. For all of the bathing and giving him fresh towels for bed, by the morning he was sloshing in his own urine, towels drenched puppy pads under his crate saturated.  Excitement and playing with another dog meant both dogs were quickly urine covered….and in need of a bath.  Bentley’s life was reduced to a crate or pen, towel changes up to eight times a day and constant sponge baths.  We had seen the result of keeping Bentley in a diaper, severe urine scald and skin infection so that option was off the table.

Dr. Magnifico and Bentley

Bentley returned to Lititiz Veterinary Center for a procedure that would send dye through his urinary tract, allowing the surgeon to make sure the urine was following the path it should.  The good news was that it was, the bad news was that there were no further surgical options.  The surgeon noted severe deformities to his anus. She told us how sorry she was that he was out of options, Bentley was such a sweet boy, all who met him at her office fell in love with him too.  A recommendation to try medications designed to treat incontinence was made.  We started him on Prion and once again hoped for the best.  Within a week Bentley began to show signs of fecal incontinence.  Even if he eliminated outdoors he would leave stool “nuggets” behind in his crate.  Keeping Bentley clean was a challenge, within minutes of cleaning him up and giving him fresh towels he was once again covered in his own waste, now not just urine but feces too.

The heartbreaking reality that Bentley’s tomorrow would not be better than today set in.  He was condemned to a life in his own waste.  He would never be able to do all the things that other dogs do; enjoy rides in the car perched on the backseat, snuggle in bed with his people, lay beside his own little boy or girl’s bed at night, enjoy movie night on the sofa with his people, play with other pups.  He would always need to be on a hard, non-porous surface so it could be scrubbed clean multiple times a day.  He would battle reoccurring UTI’s and live in a constant state of nausea.  He could literally fall into a state of serious neglect in a day’s time.  This wasn’t even worst-case scenario; it was so much worse.  Was Bentley left with quality of life? And worse where do we go from here?

We are left with peace in knowing we gave Bentley every chance we possibly could at a happy, healthy, normal life.  We spared no expense, we left no stone unturned, he was so very loved by all of us but especially by his foster family.  We never gave up on him, his fate was sadly decided in utero when cells came together as they should not have, we tried to undo what was already decided.  Sometimes we do not get the miracles we hoped for, but that will never stop us from trying."

Jenn and Bentley

Here is Bentley's story from my perspective. The veterinarian who gets too many calls for cases like these and has a very hard time not trying to help. It's a sticky predicament knowing you are the last stop. Knowing there aren't any options past you, and, telling someone who cares and wants to save their doomed companion that they have to give up hope. 

Bentley's story began with us, and by "us" I mean me and the Jarrettsville Veterinary Center crew, which is after all where he resides now, months ago.

His story with us started the way so many of them do. A friend had a friend who knew someone who had gotten a phone call/email/online request for assistance, "and, well, they know I get a lot of requests for veterinary help, but,, could I maybe look at this case and see if I could help them?"

The cases vary only in a few details, they are all in some panicked state of duress, and they all need much more than a leg up. They almost always need an immediate take over of medical, financial and everything else. The sick and the dying quickly are my forte. These are exactly the cases I want to help, and, exactly the cases no one else does. 

Most, dare I say, all, professionals prefer the cash replete, minimal output, not asshole clients. Add duress to almost any scenario and people morph into one of two characters; humble and grateful, or, angry, demanding rabidly vicious. Even under the best of circumstances I have grown unwilling to assist the asses. Let them take their problems elsewhere. There is a whole genre of medical professionals who don't want to know anything about you other than your ability to pay and their ability to meet your medical need. niceties don't matter to them, just as your face and your pets don't either. you will come, you will go and  they don't care as long as you pay. 

Bentley was one of the rare cases who had someone who cared so much they would make whatever personal sacrifice they had to just to do right by them. These people, the compassionate few without personal gain other than peace of mind for having a pet they love be helped are my cup of tea. They are my brethren, and for them I do crazy feats.

Bentley had a congenital disorder I had to look up when it was proposed to me. Bentley had hypospadia. He was four months old and his mom was desperate to find help for him. She was desperate for him to have a chance at a life outside of the only option she could afford; euthanasia. She had spent all four months  of his life looking for any possible way to give him that chance to live.

When I told the foundation who was offering to pay for $1000 of the $6000 she  needed to "try" to fix him that they could give her my phone number so we could talk about him the story of Bentley and JVC began.

"Hello, Kista? It's Dr. Magnifico from Jarrettsville Vet. How are you?"

And so it began. My last words for that phone call were what they too often are; "if you get to the point where you have no other options for him other than euthanasia call me back and I will take him to see what we can do." 

She was, and has remained, so genuine in her words and her intentions that nothing regretful can come from this. She has been 100 percent committed to him, and we have done the same in return. i cannot tell you that this story will have its "happily ever after" but, i can say that Bentley was loved and cared for every moment of his never-quite-right life. He has had what so many other perfectly healthy but never having known kindness for lack of specialty or luck of the draw.

Bentley's life lacked luck from inception, but, he always knew specialty. He was a special boy with a birth defect that the majority are culled for. It is just too difficult to treat. It always requires surgical correction, always at the hands of a boarded surgeon, and it has a pessimistic success rate. In fact it is so abysmally low you are less than 50%. more often than not it is not fixable. For these reasons I have never seen it. I am not a veterinarian for breeders, and breeders don't keep the puppies that they can't sell or breed. 

Bentley's beginnings begin with Kista. She is the person who was there from birth. Here is her version of his story. She was his champion. She was the person who pushed beyond all of the "no's" from all of the people she begged for help, and just kept pushing. She is what every child deserves, what every desperate soul in dire need of interventional care needs. She never gave up on him no matter how many others did. When she called me and told me about Bentley her dedication to him moved me. She is the person I wish every parent (pet and otherwise) would be. She is the reason I became a veterinarian. 

Bentley was born 9/1/19 (originally named Bear)
The first of October Bentley visited Oppossumtown Vet- they had no idea what was wrong with him so they took pictures and sent an email out to several veterinarians.
10/7/19 Opposumtown Vet called stating he had hypospadia.
I reached out to VSC in Leesburg, Chesapeake Surgical Specialists, and Dr. Walesby. Dr. Walesby recommenced that Bentley be at least 6 months for surgery. I made an appointment for Bentley to see Chesapeake Surgical Specialists in Columbia as they were the closest to my home outside of a surgeon in Frederick with bad reviews.

A lady had told her friend about Bentley and she wanted to meet him. Once she met Bentley she asked to take him home that night. I told her that I really wanted to wait until he seen the surgeon the following week as I had no idea the cost of the surgery but it had to be over $1,000. She still insisted on taking him home on 11/19. On 11/25 both Bentley’s new owner and I took him for his consult at Chesapeake Surgical Specialists. They recommended an ultrasound. An ultrasound was performed the following week. They estimated Bentley’s surgery to be $2500-$3500 plus $1500-$3500 to scope him first. This was way more than we expected. A GoFundMe was set up with Bentley’s new owner as the beneficiary. That raised $200 (I assume she used that for vet bills/antibiotics as she did not give that to me when she gave Bentley back to me). I reached out to the Frederick Humane Society who stated they may be able to help with $100 if we raised enough money. 12/27 reached out to Helping Hands in Richmond Virginia to see if they offered a low cost surgery option for hypospadia. Unfortunately they do not perform that type of surgery.

1/17 I reached out to U2SA who originally agreed to donate $550. They than Increased offer to $2000. They paid for Bentley’s owner to see there vet (Buckeystown Vet) and they recommended Bentley see a surgeon in Pittsburg and that it would cost around $6,000. U2SA then lowered there donation to $1000 as they did not feel hopeful but stated that they had a friend who would donate $500 (not sure if they ever sent that to Lititz) Buckeystown vet reached out to vet school in Blacksburg. Cannot do at low cost.

I contacted Barcs the end of January they were unable to help and referred me to Saving Grace Animal Rescue. I reached out 2-3 times and never heard back once I sent his ultrasound and estimate. This seemed to be the normal for most rescues. Very few got back to me.

Reached out to Little Angels pet haven and rescue 1/3.

Reached out to Pitbull and Paroles in January. Never heard back.

Reached out to Bissell pet foundation 1/22 never heard back.

Reached out to Sleepys dream 2/8. They are unable to help.

2/10 reached out to Rescue Well. They checked around for a rescue for Bentley with no luck as well.

Reached out to Always strong pitbull rescue 2/10.

2/12 Save the misunderstand.org no response. tara’s house- unable to help. Key to lions heart rescue- too much for them to take on.

Buddy foundation offered $1000.
Thought I had enough in donations with 2000 from u2sa and $1000 buddy and$500 thru me until I found out they wouldn’t do surgery without scoping costing $1500-3000 more.
2/24 Melinda with buddy foundation referred me to you!

2/26 reached out to Kennedy K9 camp. He said he would share the news and let me know if he found any help.

Reached out to McPaw and they were unable to help. Reached out to Animal Welfare League of Frederick and they were unable to help. Also reached out to Facebook page “I Love My Dog” and asked if they could share his GoFundMe. Reached out to Last Chance Animal Rescue and they shared his story.

Reached out to J and j trash service and family friendly to spread the word.
Reached out to the Aspca. Reached out to several others by phone and web forms but cannot recall the names.

What would you do for your pet? What if you felt personally responsible for their very survival? Aren't we all in Kista's shoes, and, aren't we all a parent of a potential Bentley?

Where are we now? Bentley needs help. He needs a miracle. He needs someone who will love him even if he cannot be perfect. He is a pup who is incontinent. An ailment that affects millions of people, but, people have options to stay clean and dry and manage this. Bentley can't live in a diaper. He cannot live outside like a wild animal. It is a long shot and a big ask, but, we have to try.

I wish I could say that I heal every patient who crosses my path. I wish I could say every case is a happy ending. I wish I could say that it is easier just passing the hard ones to someone else. Except in almost all cases there is no one else. I know this. I feel compelled to try. No one wants to try anymore unless they are adequately compensated. I took Bentley's case because the only option left was euthanasia. This might still be his ending. Not happy. Not a success, but, as in some tiny measure of hard to swallow acceptance that there was hope. we all need hope even in a world of not so promised happy endings.

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