Baby Kittens

Well the hospital is hopping with signs of spring, or I guess you could say it is meowing. About three weeks ago we got a surprise as we opened for business in the form of a sneaker box filled with, you guessed it, baby kittens. From the looks of it these little guys (both boys) they were maybe only a couple days old. When I opened the box I honestly thought the man had brought me 2 baby rats. Judging by their lack of movement and the cool temperature I guessed they needed a warm place to curl up and a meal at the very least. The nice man who brought them in said they had been found on his truck seat when he got ready to get in that morning to head to work. I said we would take a look at them and then well, I handed them over to my kitty loving staff for two hour feedings. Well, as you can imagine the girls were all a twitter with the new arrivals. They laid claim pretty quickly with Andrea and Meg coming out in a tie for the title of mommy. They worked out a schedule and have been taking them home for the last few weeks. We have watched as their eyes have opened and as the almost in-audible meows have turned into a full on rock concert complete with jet engine purrs at feeding time. They grab on to their bottle with ferocity unlike anything I have ever seen kneading their little paws while they suckle from the never empty bottle from which they have come to expect and demand. Andrea and Meg have assembled a baby bag with all of the necessary supplies for their feedings and to help them take care of business. They have their own little heat disks and their very own little wash clothes and blankets to wash them up and keep them warm. They also have names now which I guess means they must be rapidly becoming the newest members of our Keauhou Veterinary Hospital family.

Chisai which is Japanese for little, has a funny little bend in the end of his tail, he has long fuzzy black hair with a silver undercoat. He is very small compared to his brother and struggles to eat but is growing at his own rate and so far his will to live is matched only by his attitude. He is very sassy and wants you to know he may be little but he is the boss. 


Bigfoot is well BIG! He is about twice the size of his brother and he is a lover. His hair is black and fuzzy and thick. He likes nothing more than to be on his back getting a full belly, chin, neck and tail rub. He will lie there until you stop. All you have to do is barely rub his side and he flops over like his has been shot on a quick draw, then lays there as if to say you may begin. He will stretch his front legs up and close his eyes, oh yeah he knows what he wants.

Now that we are at the 3 week mark and the kittens are finally being feed every four hours they have had their first de- worming which much to our disgust worked very well. They are now in a larger cage, here, as they are motivating in all kinds of directions and climbing up and out of their box. Andrea and Meg are glad to be getting a little longer rest periods. I am glad I will not have to purchase them under eye cover up for the raccoon eyes they are sporting, thanks to their new charges. We are hoping that they start drinking from a shallow container soon and that they continue to thrive. Until they are ready to go to their forever homes, we will continue to laugh and watch them grow. We will take great joy in seeing them become more active and we will try and have a little kitten time in the lobby in the coming weeks. Maybe we need a kitten greeter since Pike is only working a couple of days per week and Rome the destroyer is not fit for human interaction just yet. Until the kittens make their debut, you can follow their kitten-hood on-line at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Keauhou- Veterinary-Hospital/329699169653. We will keep you posted on their adventures and hope that you will come and visit them soon. We wish you all a happy spring and a great big MEOW!!!

Global Lesson

What a humbling week we have had here in Hawaii and the world over. While many of us are still trying to comprehend the magnitude of the events from March 11, 2011, we must all remain calm and vigilant. We were not left unscathed by the power of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan and the tsunami it generated; it affected us all global and locally. For us here at the Hospital, we are saddened by the reality that is now Japan's. We are concerned for our co-workers, friends and family who are living and grieving through these events and we are struggling to find words for those people who have lost so much. We look around at our coastline and are thankful that no lives were lost here in Hawaii and that the damage we sustained was not worse. We wonder how we can help each other rebuild our downtown, preserve our bays and keep a stablizing force in our fragile, local economy. We know we should be grateful and hopefully we are awakened with a renewed sense of just how much we could have lost. We know that, while we are searching for answers to these questions and never knowing what our future holds, we all have the opportunity to look towards that future. We need to learn to put aside the differences that make us unique and remember the thing that makes a collective, that we are all human. We all cry and grieve for loss, we all work daily to preserve ourselves and our legacy for tomorrow. 

We are seeing the power of our planet's destructive forces first hand. I know we sat up late into the night wondering what can we do, how can we help. Where do you even start? We watched with admiration how the businesses downtown rallied together to get the doors open for dinner after the tsunami and we were proud of their fortitude. Collectively, we have stood as one. Yet even by Monday, as I write this column, I am reminded how quickly we forget these lessons. The kindness people showed on Friday was replaced by indignation. While we all realize there is only so much we can do to help, we could spare the change under the floor mats- a collective would make more cents. While we all want to see changes, we have no real suggestions. We have an opportunity to emerge from this a better town, city, state, country, nation and global community. Technology grants us instant access to world events as they happen. Though the world has not diminished in size, these events, as with many others in recent years, make the world feel smaller everyday.

I was very moved as I watched the news and even more impressed by the fact there was no looting. People waited patiently in-line to use the pay phone, finding their lost family members and to let others know they were safe. They stopped to help each other and remained dignified, all in the midst of chaos all around. We can learn a lot from the Japanese. There is a tolerance there that we could all apply to our daily lives. I recently read a Japanese proverb on a glass of tea I was drinking. I asked if I could purchase the cup and I have to say, it may be the best $6.00 I have ever spent. I plan on buying them for everyone in my family and my immediate circle of friends as a gentle reminder.

           Less meat  -   More vegetables
          Less salt    -   More vinegar 
          Less sugar    -   More fruit
          Less eating    -   More chewing
          Less clothing -   More bathing
          Less talk    -   More deeds
          Less greed    -   More giving
          Less worry    -   More sleep
          Less riding    -   More walking
          Less anger    -   More smiles

We have learned a lot from our island neighbors. While they, like us, don't always get it right, I have found great relief in knowing, that although their country lay in ruins, their spirit lives on in the people and in the heart of their children and in the world that will stand ready to help them. It will take years to rebuild their nation and it will be years more to mourn their loss, but they will persevere. I mourn for our country, for a dignity we have yet to find, for a collective voice we have forgotten how to use, and for a morality I can only hope will come. We have experienced tragedy in our country at the hands of others and we have witness Mother Nature during Katrina. Mother Nature is warning us. It is up to us to stop all the noise and listen- to listen with the ears of future generations, to see with the eyes of our children's children and to speak with words that encourage understanding and not condemnation. We have an opportunity to rise as a global conscience. We have a chance to rebuild from these events, the right way. We need to take pro-active approach, using what is already available and improving on it. We have a choice to make and while I can not control the world, Lord knows I have tried, I can control myself. I can empower my staff, I can teach my children, I can love whole-heartedly and I can hope that others will do the same. 

We can not change the events of the last few days, weeks, months, years, decades and centuries. We can change the next week, the next month, the next year, the next decade and hope that, at the end of this century, we can look back and see how far we have come. ~The reputation of a thousand years can be determined by the conduct of one hour.~ Let make this our finest.

Photo credit: mckennaoriginals.webs.com

FIRED

Well, I thought you should hear it here first. I’ve been fired! My job as a greeter has come to an end, at least for a while. My dad is calling it a leave of absence. He feels my brain has left my skull and I have forgotten all my canine good manners. I guess it is not surprising after I chased after the Fed EX guy last week and then snapped at a puppy while my dad showed a client what a whippet looks like full grown. I know, I know, I guess I was jealous. With Rome officially in our lives, I have taken the back seat and well to be honest, I like to drive and sometimes my teeth get in the way. My

mom says I am the most handsome dog ever and my sister loves me all the way to the moon and back. I know this should be enough for a rescue dog like me but well it is not. So.... for the time being I will be hanging out protecting my house. This is a skill I excel at and not to put too fine a point on it but my bite is much worse then my bark. I will be returning to work for brief stints to see if I can behave myself. Meanwhile Captain ZERO (Rome) will be helming the ship, greeting you all with his happy go-lucky attitude and his never ending need to seek your approval and attention. I will be chewing things up at home and putting them into Rome’s kennel, evidence that I am the better dog.

I was thinking in my time off I could work on my tan, but then I remembered white dogs and cats have a higher rate of skin cancer. Then I thought perhaps I would catch up on some TV but I remembered how weird my family is and that we don’t have cable and haven’t for over 5 years. I thought maybe I could have my mom leave the treadmill on so I could at least get some exercise. I asked her and she said NO! I guess this means instead I will be lying around doing nothing. My mom says it is called “introspection”. I said no it is called “mind-numbing boredom”. Either way, I will be out of the office for a while. I want you all not to worry about me... alone, no staff to tend to, no Fed Ex men to chase, just me, myself and I. I will think about my actions and try to figure out how to be a better dog while lying on the sofa, watching the palm trees sway. Time off for bad behavior never looked so good. RUFF!!!