Veterinary Student’s Family Adopts Patient in Her Care

“Case of the Month” – June 2023

The schedule of a veterinary student is full and always busy, to say the least. So, when second-year DVM student Lauren Prince told her parents she was going to foster a dog recovering from injuries sustained following being hit by a car, they were concerned she may be taking on too much. Little did they know that Tori, an estimated 2-year-old German shepherd mix, would soon become a permanent member of their family.

How did the Princes, who live in Arizona, go from trying to talk their daughter out of fostering Tori to adopting her?  

“I guess I sent them enough cute photos of her,” joked Prince.

Like most veterinary students, Prince knew at a young age that she wanted to be a veterinarian.

“I think every kindergartner wants to be a vet,” Prince said. “For some, that goes away, but for me, it stuck.”

In high school, she started volunteering at the Arizona Humane Society, helping care for shelter animals. Her hard work earned enough credit to waive the adoption fee for Toby, the Prince’s now 8-year-old German shepherd mix – not to be confused with Tori.

“I wanted to name Tori as an homage to Toby, not knowing at the time that my parents would adopt her,” said Prince. “My mom’s not happy about (the confusion) that (may cause),” she joked.

As she completed her undergraduate degree at Colorado State University, Prince became more involved in veterinary medicine, volunteering at a small animal general practice in Arizona during holidays and summers. Those many years of service in veterinary settings helped bolster her application and eventual acceptance into veterinary school at UC Davis.

Tori’s eventual path to Prince started several months ago when Yolo County Animal Services brought her to the UC Davis veterinary hospital’s Emergency Room following the accident. House officers Drs. Jessica Jones, Caitlan Koontz, and Lara Manzano-Culebras cared for Tori in the ER, where she was diagnosed with a broken ulna and an eye damaged beyond repair. The team advocated for her referral to the hospital’s Access To Care (ATC) program, a collection of community-based veterinary care options at UC Davis. Thanks to generous donations from the Banfield Foundation and other supporters of the program, ATC allows dogs like Tori to receive quality healthcare and find forever homes.

Tori was accepted into ATC’s Fracture Program for Rescue Animals, which provides additional learning opportunities for veterinary students and surgery residents. These surgeries on shelter animals provide invaluable exposure to fracture management, furthering the students’ education and the residents’ training, all while giving dogs like Tori a pathway toward a healthy future.

Second-year surgery resident Dr. Kyla Walter performed a successful procedure to repair Tori’s broken ulna, as the Shep Heroes Rescue of Sacramento took over formal guardianship of Tori and actively sought a foster. One of Prince’s classmates was participating in the Fracture Program on Tori’s case and knew Prince was looking to foster. So, the connection was made, and Prince and Tori began a six-month journey together, ultimately leading to a forever home with her parents.  

Beyond fostering Tori, Prince plays a major role in several other ATC entities, gaining valuable hands-on experience with animals through the program’s community-based extracurricular activities.

She began her work with ATC volunteering with the Knights Landing One Health Clinic, a monthly clinic in an underserved community 20 miles north of campus. She eventually became the clinic’s records officer.

“In that role, I attend all our Knights Landing clinics,” said Prince. “I’ve learned a lot about running a clinic, keeping in mind the needs of the community.”

Prince also became the head coordinator for another ATC program, the Covelo Clinic, where three times per year UC Davis faculty and students travel to the remote town in northwest California. Their work supports a community that struggles with pet overpopulation and access to veterinary care due to financial and transportation constraints.

“The veterinary students work so incredibly hard to make that clinic happen,” said Prince. “That’s had a phenomenal impact on me. Work like that is something I hope to continue doing throughout my career.”

Following specialty surgery to correct her broken leg, another ATC facet, the Community Surgery Service, continued Tori’s care. The service provides surgical experience to fourth-year students by allowing them to take the lead (under faculty supervision) on cases such as spays/neuters, mass removals, and other basic procedures.

Seeing the importance of getting Tori into the service as soon as possible to address her eye injury, Dr. Elizabeth Montgomery, chief of the Community Surgery Service, made accommodations for Tori in their busy schedule. With her need for multiple procedures—all of which students will encounter in their first year as a general practitioner—Tori’s case presented several learning opportunities for students.

"Tori provided a fantastic collaborative effort across services and showed the value that the veterinary students bring to our patients," said Dr. Montgomery. "The students who performed her spay and eye enucleation were afforded an excellent surgical training opportunity with her case."

In addition to the removal of Tori’s badly injured eye and her spay procedure, the students also performed several other tasks to prepare her for adoption.

“They did a fantastic job helping Tori,” Prince said. “They did everything for her – gave her vaccines, microchipped her, and even clipped her nails. I can’t say enough about how wonderful they were with Tori.”

While recovering from the broken leg, which required her to be on gradually modified crate rest for 16 weeks, Tori was also helped by Dr. Ronald Koh in the hospital’s Integrative Medicine Service, which facilitated three rehabilitation sessions. Tori’s leg was strengthened with agility exercises, shockwave and laser therapy, and conditioning on an underwater treadmill.

Recently, Prince’s parents traveled to Davis for a “meet-n-greet” with Tori and Toby, as well as another member of the Prince pack, Millie, a yellow Labrador retriever mix. Thankfully, Prince reports that everyone got along.

After six months of collaborative care at UC Davis, Tori was finally given the green light to go to her forever home with Prince’s parents.

“I want to thank everyone for the hard work put into making sure Tori is a healthy and happy girl,” said Prince.” My family is honored to be a part of her healing process, and Tori will have a wonderful life with two rescue siblings who have also been through a lot. We’re so appreciative of the Access To Care program, Shep Heroes, and everyone who collaborated to save this girl’s life.”

Shortly, Prince will drive Tori to Arizona. She will stay for a month to participate in a summer externship at the same general practice where she volunteered as an undergraduate. There, she’ll shadow the clinic’s veterinarians, perform physical examinations, gain experience with diagnostics, and hone her technical skills like blood draws, placing catheters, and taking radiographs.

Growing up volunteering with the Humane Society, having all three of her family’s dogs come from shelters, and the experience gained through UC Davis’ ATC program has had a tremendous effect on Prince. Wherever her career may take her, she says there will always be some aspect of her work that will involve helping shelters and communities in need.

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