On an ordinary morning in St. Petersburg, Florida, Luna — a 6-pound Chihuahua — trotted into her yard like she always did. But when she returned inside, something was clearly wrong.
She darted under the bed and began making strange, jerking motions with her throat. Alarmed, her mom, Carolyn Knight, instinctively tried the Heimlich, but nothing emerged.
Luna was alert, but Knight could tell her little girl was in trouble. She and her son rushed Luna to the emergency vet, fearing she’d swallowed something dangerous. But tests came back inconclusive — no signs of an obstruction. A chest X-ray raised some concern, but nothing definitive.
Luna was sent home, but things only got worse. She stopped eating, grew lethargic, and withdrew to hide. “I just kept thinking, ‘You’re not going to die on me,’” Knight said. “That’s my daughter.”
Desperate for answers, Knight brought Luna back. This time, the vet recommended exploratory abdominal surgery — a last resort to search for whatever was making Luna so ill.
But the cost of surgery was far more than Knight could afford.
“I just started crying,” Knight said. “I didn’t have the money, but I couldn’t let her die.”
Then, the vet offered an option: if Knight was willing to sign over ownership, a local rescue might be able to help. Through tears, she made the painful decision.
“I told my kids, ‘We have to let her go — but it’s to save her life,’” Knight said. “I hugged Luna and told her, ‘This is so you can live, baby girl.’ She looked at me like she understood.”
Jaime McKnight, founder of Pawlicious Poochie Pet Rescue, received the urgent call and immediately said yes. When Luna arrived, she was weak and vomiting — even the smell of food made her retch.
“She was in so much pain,” McKnight said. “We had no time to waste.”
Pawlicious approved the exploratory surgery, but what they found only deepened the mystery: no obstruction in her stomach, and Luna was declining fast.
That’s when a memory clicked. Luna’s mom had mentioned a neighbor’s mango tree, and that she thought Luna might’ve eaten a mango.
But nothing had shown up in the original scans. The rescue ordered a barium study and sent the images to a specialist — and that’s when they finally saw it.
“You could barely make it out,” McKnight said. “But there it was — a mango seed, lodged horizontally in her throat.”
It explained everything: the pain, the retching, the steady decline. Luna needed emergency endoscopic surgery immediately. Her chances of surviving were slim.
Still, McKnight refused to give up. She pleaded for donations online and authorized the surgery.
Miraculously, Luna pulled through.
“The mango seed came out, and she started eating that same night,” McKnight said. “She was running around — like a whole new dog.”
Back in touch with McKnight the whole time, Knight was overwhelmed with relief. She started a GoFundMe to contribute to Luna’s care, and with help from friends and family, she was able to make a donation to the rescue that had saved her.
Meanwhile, Luna thrived under McKnight’s care — snuggling in soft beds, nibbling rotisserie chicken, and wagging nonstop.
“She’s literally smiling,” McKnight said. “It’s like she knows she got a second chance.”
But there was one final surprise.
McKnight decided not to put Luna up for adoption. Instead, she made the call that changed everything — Luna was going home.
“I jumped for joy and just cried,” Knight said. “I told her, ‘I’m crying tears of joy. I’m forever grateful.’”
When Luna saw her family again, she raced into their arms, smothering them in kisses.
“She beat the odds,” McKnight said. “She made it to the other side. Now she’s got her whole life ahead of her.”
To support Pawlicious Poochie Pet Rescue and help dogs like Luna, you can donate here.
