My husband and his family have been taking their pets to Feather and Fur Animal Hospital for years.
When we got married, he insisted I take my two dogs there, too.
I was on the fence. I really like the vet who’s been taking care of both Sunny and Indy since they were pups and the thought of going somewhere new — and trusting someone new — wasn’t appealing.
Vets are like hair stylists, dentists and mechanics. You find one you like, one who you’re comfortable with, and you don’t change.
But working with the vets at the Kailua animal hospital with ‘Elua these past few months have really changed my mind.
There aren’t many clinics that have vets who know how to treat and care for birds and exotic animals. But Drs. Kirk Ayling and Mina Khoii were both knowledgable and compassionate in how we handled ‘Elua’s ailing health. They both plainly laid out our options and explained each scenario so we could make the best choice for our bird. It made me feel a ton better knowing ‘Elua was here with these two.
When my husband and I went to the hospital to say goodbye to ‘Elua, Dr. Khoii, who has worked as an associate veterinarian at the Honolulu Zoo and has handled plenty of chickens there, went over exactly what would happen when we put down our bird. She said that since the infection caused fluid build-up in her belly, she couldn’t inject the euthanizing drug there. (Usually, it can be injected in the belly and we could have held her while she died.) Instead, she had to administer the drug in her wing, so we could only stand by and watch.
Dr. Khoii was sympathetic and kind. I could tell euthanizing animals — not matter how humane — wasn’t her favorite thing. But she kept reminding us that this was the most compassionate choice for ‘Elua.
She brought in a box of Kleenex for us and let us spend a few minutes with ‘Elua after. We could even leave out the back door to avoid the sympathetic stares and concerned looks on the faces of the folks in the waiting area.
It wasn’t easy, but Dr. Khoii made us feel good — well, as good as could feel — about our decision.
And then, the other day, we got a card from her and the staff at Feathers and Fur (above). And the card included a few of ‘Elua’s feathers.
It was the sweetest, most thoughtful gesture of sympathy I could have ever imagined getting from anyone, much less our vet. It rendered me speechless — which, if you know me, isn’t easy — and made me feel a lot better, not just about our choice to euthanize ‘Elua but to switch vets, too.
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It is super hard to find a good chicken vet. Here in Australia we have some excellent poultry forums, plus we have made some local chicken friends who we could ask for recommendations. That card is so lovely and the feathers *sob*.
This weekend we are attending a local chicken auction. I’ll be blogging all about it next week. We too recently euthanased one of our girls, plus our girls have a much larger enclosure than we ever planned initially, so we’re going to try and pick up two or three new additions.
So we’ve been building a new chicken tractor and painting that like possessed people in our spare time, because we will want to quarantine for 4-6 weeks before introduction, but I also want this chicken tractor to be usable long term, so I want it painted very well to protect it from the weather..
There’s so much to know about chooks, at this auction there will be over 800 birds up for auction and there are a lot of breeds available to research before making a decision. With that said, a lot of decision making on the day comes down to the personality of the bird.
Ancona, our girl who recently passed, she caught my eye because she was continually trying to jump into her water container, which was nowhere near large enough for her to fit in, but she was quite determined about it! Redcomb, my un-favourite, spent the entire auction sticking her head out of her enclosure to see exactly what was going on.So you could look down the row of pens, and there was her head sticking out, then she’d pull it back in, and stick it out again at a different angle, so she could get a 360 view of everyone. She was utterly hilarious, and I paid much more for her than I should have, just because of her amazing personality.
I’m fully expecting to fall in love with several chickens, and have my heart broken when they sell for more than our budget. But having your heart broken, and filled with happiness, then broken again, then filled.. that seems to be what chicken keeping is all about.
All we can do is enjoy each moment with our much loved girls and give them happy lives while they are here, and remember them when they are gone. 🙂
Very sorry for your loss. You not only provided a wonderful life to Elua, but in return received much joy through your interactions with her. You were truly blessed to have had this experience.
Cat, there a blogger on another web who raise ducks and chickens but raccoons ate them all up. She did not give up and now raise Mohark Chicken as pets. She got them online.
Steamy Kitchen is her web . Mohark chickens seem good as pet as there no mongooses around and I use live on Liliha St and had a pet rooster and hen. Mongoose try kill rooster but injury it. He live for a few days and died. Hen sad wander around yard by herself for a few years. Yes females do live longer.
Hello Cat,
Sorry for your loss again. Dr. Kohii sounds like a great vet.
I have tears. What a wonderful pair of vets your pets have. So blessed to have people with genuine compassion for animals and their humans. Dr. Kohii sounds like an awesome person.
Yes, Vet’s are the most important person to know when you have a pet. My six year old dog spent a month in the hospital trying to overcome a hereditary issue. Our vet tried everything to save him but the problem was too much to overcome and we had to put him down. I also got a nice card and his ashes to keep close to my heart. Thank you Vet’s of Hawaii!
So sorry for your loss! With aloha from Kaua’i!