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!!!

Fore!!!!

As anyone who has ever owned their own business knows, the life you had before is gone, baby, gone. You spend every day, 7 days a week, working and when you’re not at work you’re thinking about work, right?  Until something happens that makes you remember wait just a minute, hold the phone, stop the press. I used to do that! We recently had this revelation. 

You see, our oldest son started to play on the golf team and it reminded us that once upon a time, long, long ago we played too. Now, let me be clear that the “we” would be Jacob and I, with a strong emphasis on Jacob. He used to play at least a few times a month and he played junior golf as a kid. Now he is lucky if he plays a few times per year! (Usually in some tournament I have signed him up for and then only if he doesn't get called into the hospital). 

I, on the other hand, am sad to say, while I enjoy playing very much, I am terrible. I can throw the ball about as far as I can hit it. I am proud of the fact, however, I am single handedly doing my part to kill every earthworm on the course as my ball burns by them at a crawl. Maybe I just bump them on the head but at least I am contributing, right? When I am not swinging at the ball and.... missing (we don't count those), I occasionally get a piece of it and then after searching in vain for several minutes and holding up the poor chaps coming up behind us, I have to concede and drop a ball. (For the record we don't count these either.) 

Poor Jacob, his ball has been resting peacefully a mere foot or so from the pin for what in golf time seems like an eternity. I swing and miss again and start counting up my strikes. By my count I have been struck out the equivalent of a full inning in baseball. Jacob reminds me gently to take my time, nice and slow, pausing just at the top of the swing and then I swing with enough force to send him running and when I open my eyes the ball has indeed sailed a good 50 feet....behind me. This is talent, folks! I can actually replicate this exact shot almost every time. I wonder sometimes if I shouldn't just play the whole course backwards. 

My husband comes out from the nearest shrub to again give me a pointer (or ten) and say “hey Sammy (Sammy Sosa) we don't need a home run, just a single, easy now.” Then, as if I am getting prepared to launch a hand grenade, he hits the deck. Thankfully, I honestly don't mind him trying to teach me to golf. He is very patient and kind about our 4 plus hour golf games. I think he really just brings me along for the comic relief. When I finally do reach the green, the real fun begins. I can chip it on and off again in the same shot! (Oh yeah, I am that good!) 

Once I get the ball back on I can hit it 2 inches at a time all the way to the hole. I may not be consistent on the fairway but on the green, I am an amazing display of pin-point accuracy and consistency. 35 shots later, I have completed the 1^st hole. Only 17 more to go!

It is usually about this time that the little beverage cart comes around and my husband buys himself a water (enriched with barley and hops). He may need more enrichment before the day is through and I understand it is hard work playing dodge ball and golf at the same time. I tell him to think of it like cross training, only instead of alternating activities he is getting both things done at once. This may actually afford him time later for a nap, if he is lucky.  After 9 holes we are usually plenty warmed up for the back nine and my score is usually well into the triple digits. 

Jacob has taken up playing 2 balls simultaneously and is proud to be beating himself. At least it is a fair game, although I must admit I secretly root for the white ball with the x on it, not the white ball with the numbers. It definitely gets style points. 

When we finish up and head into the 19th hole, Jacob always adds up my score, subtracts 100, figures out my handicap and I manage to beat him. While I know he is the superior player between the two of us, the numbers don't lie. I always offer to buy him another “water” for taking his loss like such a good sport. We laugh at the day’s events and look forward to next year when we try and settle this grudge match. I think maybe I will take some lessons this year so I don't get an unfair advantage. I wonder if the coach will charge me extra for hazard pay. Until then, here is hoping for another day off, so we can hit the links....FORE!!!!!

A walk on the wild side.

Well, it seems we are taking an awful lot of walks on the wild side here at the Hospital lately. My family flew to Oahu to hang out with the giraffes and a Rhino last weekend. My brother and I were left behind here to watch the Hospital. No cake, no giraffes and no Rhino- super sorry I had to miss that one. 

Then this week Anne Goody from Three Ring Ranch came to us with a broken NENE (goose). It was hit by a golf ball on the golf course and suffered a broken leg. Anne brought it to my dad for x-rays and surgery. The real story here is not the break however, it is the the goose himself. You see, according to Anne, Goose 446 is a real ladies man and when he couldn't get his own lady, he seized the opportunity and misfortune of some other fellow. As the story goes, Don Juan de' la Goose, moved in on the poor chap's lady when the chap had to take some sick leave. She was a pretty little thing left alone with two eggs to care for and he, unable to start his own family, figured this little brood surely needed looking after. Well, he moved in on the misses and her two little goslings. One baby died the the other little gander thrived. Imagine Mr. Goose's surprise when he returned from being out for some much needed R&R and found some young Don Juan, had taken his place. Mr. Goose didn't have to try and get revenge though, Karma has a funny way of taking care of that, which was how my dad met Don Juan. After Karma had taken a crack at him, this would be the ultimate birdie.

Anne brought Don Juan in for x-rays and it was good news- a clean break, but it would have to be pinned. We scheduled surgery for the next day. It is not everyday we get an endangered species in the Hospital, and the staff was excited. When my dad got into surgery, he realized this was going to be much harder than he thought. There was a pretty good overlap of the bone and, despite being under anesthesia, Don Juan was not going to give up any muscle-tone, should the ladies of Waikaloa be watching. My dad tried to reduce the fracture closed but had to concede and make an incision. It took just a few minutes to get the bone ends to match up and then he advanced the pin and was done. Anne then applied her custom-made splint and the goose was back in business. I am wondering if this is a good way to play up the sympathy aspect of things. As for Don Juan, I think he has just been given the ultimate pick-up lines for a while. Hopefully he will not hit into any more water hazards. Karma is not as gentle when it has to give you a second reminder. Let this be a lesson to all. Mi Casa is not always su casa. Anne called us Monday to let us know that Don Juan was doing very well. Let's hope that leg heals perfectly so he can out-run the next chap whose lady he tries to steal. Personally, I think I would rather take my chances with the Geese of Waikaloa. That Karma can be a really bad dog. RUFF!!!