Updates from Kindred Spirit Kindred Care -- January 2007

Happy New Year to All

I hope this finds everyone and their animal companions well and enjoying life as we enter 2007 (the year of the pig for those of you who follow Chinese/Japanese astrology).

KSKC Purchases New Equipment Rather Than Newspaper and Phone Book Advertising Space

I should preface this decision with a heartfelt MAHALO for all of your support and referrals. Word of mouth has connected me with more new clients than any paid advertising and I do sincerely appreciate it. More than having a large client base, it is important to me to be available to provide quality care for the patients that I do take on. So instead of paying for advertising space in 2007, I will be depending on your referrals and will spend my advertising fund on purchasing new equipment to enhance the services that I can provide to my patients. In fact, in anticipation of fulfilling my contract with the Yellow Pages, I recently purchased a doppler ultrasound/sphygmomanometer. (I can't pronouce it either, but it allows me to listen to pulses and measure blood pressure.)

One other note about your referrals: As I mentioned above, many (or most) of my new clients come through word-of-mouth referrals; however, I do not take on all referrals and I hope this does not offend or deter anyone from continuing to send people my way. I query all callers about their veterinary needs and try to match them with the most appropriate provider.

KSKC to Offer Veterinary Hospice Care on the Big Island

Geriatric medicine and veterinary hospice are evolving specialties on the mainland. Helping "mature" patients to age gracefully and be able to enjoy a long life along the way is a part of veterinary medicine that I have gravitated towards for many years. As animals age and become more set in their ways, home care can be preferable to hospitalization, which fits in nicely with house call practice. Acupuncture, one of my other interests, also complements hospice care, especially for managing (arthritis) pain. Overall, veterinary hospice services should complement existing KSKC services nicely and I am excited to be offering this new option to Big Island animals. More details are available at www.kindredspiritkindredcare.com/vethospice.html or you can contact me to mail you a printed brochure.

Model veterinary hospice programs on the mainland are staffed by a veterinarian, a social worker, and the veterinary equivalent of a registered nurse. Hence I am thrilled at the destiny that connected me with Jeri Gertz, a spiritually wise and warm-hearted being who has been involved with bereavement counseling for many years. Among her many accomplishments, Jeri has counseled and advocated for families of homicide victims, spearheaded a crisis intervention team for sex assault victims, and served as a surrogate parent for special needs students. Her training in the field of death and dying comes from experts in the field, including Dr. Elizabeth Kubler Ross, Dr. Theresa Rando, and Lula Redmond, as well as from her own beloved pets, and clients that enrich her understanding of love and loss. Jeri provides private counseling and conducts Good Grief workshops to assist those moving through the grieving process. I am honored to have Jeri in my KSKC network.

KSKC will continue to provide care to existing patients, and will continue to accept new canine and feline patients (of any age) for acupuncture services and integrative medicine consultations. I will also continue to offer my knowledge and skills to domestic and wild avian species.

Kindred Spirit Kindred Care Now Has Its Very Own

As part of my ongoing efforts to make it easy for you to get the medications and products prescribed for your animal companions, I have signed on with VetCentric, a "members only" Internet pharmacy. Vetcentric offers a large selection of (conventional) prescription and non-prescription veterinary products and supplies. I chose this company because it provides us a storefront on the Internet where we can both choose from a variety of pet products and brands. It also allows us to set up a "medicine chest" for each patient where we can both place specific items that we think are appropriate and track all that patient's prescriptions. Their prices and shipping fees are comparable to other Internet pharmacies. Your account can be set up, at your discretion, to send you automatic reminders and/or refills.

There is a link to the Vetcentric Pharmacy in the right-hand column of the Kindred Spirit Kindred Care homepage -- it's hard to miss "Vetstore, Click Here to Shop" icon (I made it as subtle as possible.) Once I have examined your pet and established him or her as a patient of Kindred Spirit Kindred Care, an account will be created for that patient. Your Username will be the email address that you provided me on your registration form, and your initial Password will be your ten digit phone number (numbers only, no spaces or punctuation). I preferentially select home (landline) phone numbers as passwords. If you do not have a landline, then I chose a cell phone number. Once you are logged in, you can go to "my account" and change your password to whatever you want. You will also need to update mailing and billing information before you can purchase any items. If you experience problems logging in or using the site, please contact me. Vetcentric also accepts phone orders at 1(800)838-7467.

I hope this works out like it is supposed to. Feedback is welcome.

I will continue to work with other pharmacies according to what works best for you and your animal companion. It is certainly faster when local pharmacies can fill prescriptions. There are two compounding pharmacies (great for cats and birds) on the island -- Ponahawai in Hilo, and Malama in Kealakekua. For (western) herbal supplements and pet products, I like the Only Natural Pet Store. Finally, I have yet to find a reputable supplier of Chinese herbal formulas that sells directly to clients, so I will continue to supply these products.

Community Education

2006 marked the passing of my grandfather, Tadao Fujimoto (1906-2006). Although his formal education was limited, he always had a wisdom to offer, one of which was "Knowledge is something that no one can take away from you." He would go on to explain that knowledge, like most wealth and power, requires effort to acquire. Once acquired, all three can be shared with others. But unlike material possesions or power, learning becomes integrated into the fibers of who we are and cannot be taken away.

As KSKC enters her fourth year, I am planning to hold a series of 45-minute community education seminars to continue to empower people with knowledge so that they can better understand and advocate on behalf of their animal companions. Topics, locations, and dates to be announced.

In the meantime, I have also reformatted the homepage of the website, highlighting the Learning Center and topics therein.