Dollars for Dayton: Help Ozzy Live His Best Life

I am sharing this one more time before I close the fundraiser for Dayton.

Update:

Ozzy ended up passing over the rainbow bridge on Friday August 30th. We woke up that morning to give him his morning meds and he had a very long and strong seizure. We rushed him to his specialists in Columbus where he ended up getting caught in a cluster of seizures that he could not come out of. Unfortunately, that day we had to make the very tough decision to put him down humanely.

Dayton still has a hefty amount of vet bills that he accrued from Ozzy's journey with Cushing's. If you can donate, every dollar will be truly cherished. No amount is too small. Even if you can't donate, please share the fundraiser to your personal page so others can see and potentially donate to our cause.

To those who have already donated THANK YOU so much from the very bottom of our hearts ❤️ created this fundraiser for my friend and roommate Dayton and his dog Ozzy. Ozzy has had a rapid decline in his health over the past few months. He has been diagnosed with Cushing’s and has an array of other health conditions secondary to the Cushing’s. He needs radiation therapy to restore his health to have a chance at living his best life. I am hoping to raise enough funds to help offset the medical expenses that Ozzy has already accrued and to help cover the cost of radiation therapy.

Ozzy is a seven-year-old Siberian Husky that Dayton has had since he was eight weeks old. Ozzy has always been a very curious and sneaky dog. When Ozzy was in his prime, he enjoyed playing fetch, playing with his brother Titan, and swimming laps in a nice cool pond. Ozzy was always a very happy and energetic dog. Currently Ozzy can’t do any of those things due to the quality of his life. He has no energy, and his mood seems to be sad and depressed. Dayton is hoping that radiation therapy will restore his strength, energy, mood, and improve the condition of his skin.

OZZY’S STORY:

When Ozzy went to his annual vet check up in April he was presenting with significant skin irritation, lethargy, hair loss, and excessive drinking and urination. Ozzy had numerous vet appointments over the course of the next three months to try and resolve the issues he was presenting with. During that time Ozzy also developed wounds on both of his hind legs. Ozzy went through a series of diagnostic tests. He had his blood checked a few times, he had a chest x-ray, and a couple of ultrasounds. The wounds on his hind legs needed to be covered at all times. Ozzy was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and Cushing’s disease. He was prescribed medications for the hypothyroidism and Cushing’s and was started on antibiotics for his skin irritation. During this time, we also started seeing a significant change in Ozzy’s appetite.

During this time, Ozzy required a significant amount of care. The dressings on his hind legs had to be changed twice per day. He had to be let out to go to the bathroom every hour and a half to two hours. Even throughout the night. He was taking his medications four times per day and his Cushing’s medication had to be taken with food. With the decrease in his appetite this became problematic. Ozzy would not eat with his morning medications, so I had to start pureeing his food and spoon feeding it to him, but he was able to eat on his own for his evening medications. As time went on the wounds on his hind legs continued to worsen so we ended up taking him back to the vet.

When we took Ozzy to the vet for his wounds his veterinarian was very concerned. Ozzy had a significant amount of muscle wasting and he thought that Ozzy might need surgery on the wound on his right hind leg. His veterinarian said that Ozzy was the worst case of Cushing’s that he had ever seen and was worried that there may be something else causing the rapid decline in Ozzy’s health. He ended up referring us to an internal medicine specialist that was two hours away.

On Thursday July 25th we had our appointment with internal medicine. They reviewed Ozzy’s health records and determined that Ozzy had a very rare case of Cushing’s. They adjusted his Cushing’s medication and prescribed him two appetite simulants and a medication for pain. They also determined that Ozzy needed surgery on the wound that was on his right hind leg because it was exposed down to his bone and tendon. We were able to have the surgery consult while we were there.

We met with the surgeon, and we were told that the wound on Ozzy’s right hind leg would not heal without surgery. We scheduled the surgery for the following week. On August 2nd Ozzy had a skin graft done on his right hind leg.

After Ozzy’s surgery we started seeing slight improvements. He was eating a little better and was more active and curious about his surroundings. Ozzy was also engaging with DayG and Titan and the cats. Things were finally starting to look up for Ozzy.

Then on Saturday August 17th Ozzy had a seizure. We called his specialist and they said to bring him in immediately so he could be examined. So off we went. While we were there Ozzy had a second seizure. They ended up admitting him to the ICU and he was scheduled to see a Neurologist the following day.

Sunday August 18th Ozzy was examined by a neurologist, and they determined that he needed an MRI to see what was causing the seizures. They did the MRI later that afternoon. The MRI showed that the tumor on his pituitary gland that was causing Cushing’s was very large and was putting pressure on the brain and that’s what was causing Ozzy to have seizures. We were then given two options. Ozzy could undergo radiation therapy, or he could be put on palliative end of life care. We decided to have an oncology consult about the possibility of radiation therapy.

On Thursday August 22nd we had Ozzy’s oncology consult. His Oncologist said that Ozzy was a good candidate for radiation therapy. She was confident that Ozzy would benefit from radiation. She said that his quality of life would improve and that the side effects from radiation would be minimal. His treatment would be Monday thru Friday for 16 days. She said the next step would be to schedule a CT scan so she could create a specific treatment plan for Ozzy.

Dayton has decided to move forward with radiation therapy for Ozzy. His CT scan is scheduled for Wednesday August 28th.

Radiation therapy is very expensive on top of all the medical expenses that Ozzy has already accrued to get him to this point. Ozzy’s radiation treatment has an estimated cost of $15,000.

I know some will say that $15,000 is too much money to spend on a dog. Ozzy isn’t just a dog. Dayton and I are both animal lovers. Between the two of us we have three dogs and three cats. Ozzy’s brother Titan is an eleven-year-old pit bull boxer mix who was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy when he was three years old. This is not Dayton’s first rodeo with extensive vet bills. He went through the same thing with Titan when he was first diagnosed. Our animals are more than just pets to us. They are our family. I have adopted Titan and Ozzy into my fur family as if they were one of my own. This fundraiser is important to me because Ozzy’s life and quality of life are at stake.

Please consider donating to Dayton and Ozzy’s cause so Ozzy can live his best life. If you are able to donate anything at all, it will be greatly appreciated. Please don’t think that any amount of money is too small. Every little bit will help.