Patches' Story
Patches was born to run.
A mature neutered male, Patches was impounded as a stray. He soon found room at a no-kill shelter in Minnesota. Many potential adopters were interested in the handsome dog until the staff revealed that Patches had a reputation as an escape artist. Once loose, he would run and run, chasing cars or anything else that caught his interest. He would run until he was thoroughly exhausted, even to the point where his pads were blown out!
Patches narrowly avoided being hit by a car many times when he got loose
during his tenure at the shelter. Because of his penchant for running away,
Patches could not find a suitable home. As he approached his third anniversary
at the shelter, Patches became
despondent. He had spent so much time in the kennel, and there seemed to
be no prospects for a home that could cope with him.
Above, Patches gathers steam.
More: nose-to-nose with his buddy Rusty | An old favorite of Patches among the daisies | Back to original.
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The shelter's director recognized Patches' dilemma and finally called HFL. With our securely-fenced 40 acres, Patches could run to his heart's content in a safe environment.
Patches, estimated now to be at least nine years old, has been at the sanctuary for five years. He has been happy at Home for Life® and his many sponsors are captivated by his gentle, congenial spirit and the incredible joy he displays when running his heart out. He is a beautiful dog with a silky white coat highlighted with copper "patches."
Cancer strikes
Volunteer Rachel Hillman and Patches visit a young patient at the U of M/Fairview University Hospital Pediatric Oncology Floor.
A few months ago, HFL’s staff noticed that Patches had begun limping on one of his front legs. Our vet took X-rays and came back with a shocking report: Patches' right elbow had fractured because of a tumor in the joint! The doctor diagnosed the tumor as the dreaded osteosarcoma, a very aggressive form of cancer in dogs that is almost uniformly fatal.
The recommended treatment for osteosarcoma is surgery—amputation of the limb where the cancer appears. Yet, even with amputation, the prognosis is poor—a life expectancy of no more than six months.
We were devastated, and sadly brought Patches home to the sanctuary for
what we believed were his final weeks. We decided not to do the surgery
because the tumor was in a front leg, and even with amputation, Patches
could only be expected to live a few short months. He was still eating however,
and with pain
control, he seemed comfortable and happy to be home.
A miracle at Home for Life®
Three weeks later, little had changed. Patches was still in good spirits,
eating well, and even exercising and running, holding his affected leg in
the air. Could the diagnosis have been wrong? Back he went to the vet. After
a more in depth examination and pathology, the doctor confirmed that Patches
did indeed have
an osteocarcinoma tumor. Given Patches’ otherwise good health and
high spirits, we decided to help him fight the cancer, and we had the leg
amputated.
Patches recovered well from the amputation and, being so athletic and
agile, he easily learned to walk on his three legs. It is much harder for
dogs to learn to coordinate their movement when they lose a front leg versus
a back leg, because they carry most of their weight on their front end.
Soon, Patches even learned to
run on three legs, (demonstrating once again that he was
born to run)!
For now, Patches seems to be one of the lucky ones who has beaten cancer. Recent X-rays of his lungs (osteocarcinoma usually spreads to the lungs first) indicate that the amputation removed the cancer. Patches' joie de vivre and energy have not diminished. We cherish every day that we spend with Patches and rejoice in his apparent complete recovery!