Luca’s Story

by | Jan 18, 2023 | Blog

This sweet face belongs to Luca, a one-year-old Pitbull. Luca was adopted from a Craigslist ad as a young puppy. He was very thin, dehydrated, had an unknown vaccination history. When he was five-months-old, he presented to the Animal Medical Center of Seattle Emergency Service for a several days history of vomiting and inappetence.

Luca was diagnosed with an obstructive linear foreign body that required emergency abdominal surgery, but, due to financial limitations, his family was considering humane euthanasia. Our emergency team reached out to rescue organizations as an alternative option. Thankfully, Puyallup Animal Rescue took over his care and paid for the lifesaving surgery and hospitalization he needed.

Luca’s abdominal exploratory surgery was performed by one of our amazing veterinary surgeons, Alicia Howser, DVM, MRCVS, DACVS and while in surgery, she noted four discrete perforations within the jejunum. The foreign body was removed and a procedure called resection and anastomosis (R&A) where the section of perforated intestine was removed and the remaining healthy parts were surgically connected, was performed. Luca recovered very well from his surgery and stayed in hospital for three days.

After Luca recovered enough to be released, he was fostered with one of our Veterinary Technicians, Jeni, through the rescue for about two weeks. Then, one of the Emergency Veterinarians who helped care for Luca while he was hospitalized, Dr. Nicole White, elected to foster him as well as to trial him with her fur- family of three (two cats and another Pitbull, Penelope). After several weeks, Dr. White and her partner realize they couldn’t not keep him as their official 4th family member. Their other dog, Penelope, had fallen in love with him as well, so they couldn’t possibly separate them at that point.
Luca went from 27 pounds when he originally came to the hospital, into an 80-pound lovable, block-headed lap-dog Pittie. He is a lover of all and definitively doesn’t realize how big he is, but Dr. White couldn’t imagine having him any other way! We are all truly grateful to Puyallup Animal Rescue and our veterinary staff for saving his life.