Dear Friends,
March came and went and April seems to be flying by. We have had so much going on here, as you all know, with baby kittens and our Runie cat, it feels like we have not stopped moving. There have been numerous surgeries the last few weeks and all sorts of calamity...I am not sure where to even begin.
Let’s start with the Kittens. “ChiSai” aka Franklin and Bigfoot are almost 5 weeks old now; they are eating solids and sometimes each other. In fact they had become so crazy with each other they have gone to live at different homes. Bigfoot is now living with Meg and her other cat, Lucy. He is eating solid food, drinking water and doing all things kitten.Franklin is now living with Andrea and Jason, and their cat, Timothy, who seems to think his sole purpose in life is to give Franklin tongue baths and lay with him and sleep. Both Meg and Andrea are excited to be getting some sleep and we are excited to see our little box kittens have happy forever homes.
Runie is still in hospital as a patient and not just a resident. Her kidney values were much better at the last blood test and her appetite is a bit better. Over all we can’t believe she is still with us and we are very glad. While we know the day will come sooner than later that we will need to bid her farewell, we are enjoying her every minute she is here with us. She is letting us know her opinion on everything and will not be quiet.....Shhh Runie.... where did I put those noise canceling head phones? All kidding aside, we are really thankful that our beloved Rune is still here talking up a storm and allowing us to pet her to lower our blood pressure. Our “Bug” is the happiest 10 year old in Kona.
We have been so busy at the hospital, and I have to say we really do have the most amazing clients. Thank you all for bringing in your pets and taking such good care of them. It always helps when you have such a good bunch a people to work with and laugh with. We feel like our clients have become part of our extended OHANA . Thank you all for your kind words about Runie and for all your amazing referrals. You allow us to keep doing what we do and provide exceptional care to your furry family members. We have had some tough cases the last few weeks and some very interesting ones. I have to say I have never been more proud of my amazing staff. Our staff has been putting in long hours to help our patients get well, some of them working around the clock, to be here for their furry charges.
One very interesting surgical case the last few days was a very sick dog. After hospitalization, blood tests and ultrasound the only option for this very ill little dog was surgery. It was a Gall Bladder obstruction that came over to us from a referring veterinarian in Hilo. Dr. Head went in and flushed out the bile duct and the Gall Bladder on this poor little dog. She was a real trooper and after 5 days in the hospital she went home Tuesday. We see referrals from all over the island and we are so thankful to be able to help out and get these furry family members back to their families. To all the referring vets that send us cases, thank you for trusting us with your patients. To the families that put their faith in a doctor and Hospital you have never met or been to, thank you for letting us assist you pets.
We have also had lots of emergency surgery lately. And our surgery on Monday on a labrador who thought socks were good to eat was no exception. Unfortunately, for the dog the sock had bunched up his poor intestines and he needed surgery. After four enterotomies (small incisions in the intestine) Dr. Head was able to remove the whole sock and after a night in the hospital, this young chap went home. Hopefully for his family he will stop trying to help out with the laundry. Please remember that dogs and cats can be indiscriminate eaters; socks, rocks, plastic frogs, you name it they eat it. We seem to see these things more this time of the year. We will chalk it up to spring fever.
As we wind down this week, and gear up for another crazy week next week, we are looking forward to all sorts of fun events. The HIHS Tropical Paws fundraiser is coming up, May 6th. Our staff can’t wait! Make sure you get tickets, as it sells out. The Kona Marathon is just around the corner in June. Pike’s Bad Dog Crew will be out in full force as always. Pike is already training us up for the races. I predict at least a 10K in Dr. Head’s and my very near future. Until then keep bringing your pets in to visit us, and not just when they need to see the doctor, but just to say “Hi.” We love to see them when they are healthy and happy. We will keep you updated on the kittens and on our Runie. Keep sending her happy thoughts and we will make sure she gets them. Until next week...
Aloha,
Jolene
P. S. To the great guys at Light house Deli in Hawi, thank you for the delicious pretzels. This may become a weekly event. Yummy!
