Vet for regular and emergency care

[Chas]

We recently adopted a 6 year old cat. He is in good health, but we want to be prepared. I see from previous threads that Aloha Vet, Maika'i Vet and Big Island Pet Care Center have come up. We are in lower HPP.


I have two questions:

Where is the best 24 hour emergency care (if any)?

Where is the best for general care?

[malahini]

The only one that does 24 hours is Island vet in Hilo.

We take our dog there and Pahoa Animal Hospital. We would have liked to have stayed only going to the Pahoa one, but we want a place that accepts 24 hour emergency, and for a normal hour emergency Pahoa Animal Hospital is still fine.

There's a place basically in HPP I think. Big Island Pet Care. I don't think they really do emergencies though? But I've heard good things about them.

[Wao nahele wahine]

We used to go to Pet Hospital - Hilo Clinic near the airport. Several years ago our dog Ichi was vomiting blood. Kane called the PH-HC, and they basically refused to see Ichi that day and didn't suggest another vet to see him.

Aloha Veterinary Center saw Ichi immediately and took care of him. We switched our pet care to AVC at that point and have been very happy with them. We have taken Ichi and one of our cats to AVC this year. I would highly recommend contacting AVC and checking on their current emergency care policy. 935-7387

They were understaffed in late spring, when Dr. Rodrigues unexpectedly passed away. They might or should be fully staffed now.

[Carey]

We have used Maka`i (East Side) Vet for 16 years... since a feral cat adopted us, scrawny & pregnant... it was just before Christmas & many of the single vet clinics could not see her (we have since found that if one vet is on vacation or sick, the rest of the area vets have a much tighter workload.... & the holidays is a very tight time in the area...)
East Side (now Maka`i) was able to see her AND had 7 day a week service....
We have had great service from them, esp when our beloved Kiko dog was injured during lockdown & they went over & above, even staying open late to see her.
One of the things we have also learned, if you do not have an account with most of the vets here, during crunch time they may not be able to see your pet, so we have maintained accounts with most all of the vets (we have taken neighborhood feral/strays in for S/N & chipping using the low cost coupons.... just because I HATE cat fights awakening me...)
Although you can get this even lower cost... having the accounts at more than one vet is handy...
https://www.maikaivet.com

[kalianna]

We had always taken our animals to Kilauea Vet. Last year we had a major emergency with our dog, on a Sunday of course. We couldnʻt reach Dr. Seeske and called all over. Pahoa Animal Hospital had just opened and Dr. Bill agreed to come in and treat our dog. There was an emergency fee of $300 (which is fair) and we have now established accounts at both places. We were told recently that the vets have gotten together and there will be someone on call for emergencies for all the vets, but I canʻt verify this. I have also heard good things about Dr. Horvath, the travelling vet, and very bad things about the Hilo Mobile Vet.

[malahini]

I heard the thing about the on-call vets, but as far as I know it never happened.

[sistersue]

We had always taken our animals to Kilauea Vet.  Last year we had a major emergency with our dog, on a Sunday of course.  We couldnʻt reach Dr.  Seeske and called all over.  Pahoa Animal Hospital had just opened and Dr. Bill agreed to come in and treat our dog.  There was an emergency fee of $300 (which is fair) and we have now established accounts at both places.  We were told recently that the vets have gotten together and there will be someone on call for emergencies for all the vets, but I canʻt verify this. I have also heard good things about Dr. Horvath, the travelling vet, and very bad things about the Hilo Mobile Vet.

These are some of my experiences with our vets: I've loved ALL my many rescued dogs over the past 32 years, but one of them was the "dog love of my life", Brutus.  He was Doberman and Golden Retriever.  Brutus developed a bone infection from a neighbor's chihauhau that had dug a hole under the fence and attacked him. I took him to Big Island Pet Care in HPP for treatment. Two days later Brutus was dying. On Monday, I took him back and Grune looked at his chart and said "Oh, I forgot to take his temperature".  Long story short, I never went back there again.  Brutus almost died, and suffered so much because the vet "forgot" to take his temperature. 
Dr. Seeske is wonderful, but doesn't do x-rays.  I've been taking dogs to her for 32 years. 
Aloha Vet Hospital has been very good too.
Dr. Horvath is great but only comes here from Ocean View once a week.  And I've heard good things about the new vet in Pahoa.         Aloha ~

[MyManao]

Dr. Seeske is wonderful, but doesn't do x-rays.  I've been taking dogs to her for 32 years. 
Aloha Vet Hospital has been very good too.

Ditto, Seeske for regular.. and Aloha in a pinch.. though if you need real, industrial strength, care for all animals big and small, Veterinary Associates in Waimea is best the island has to offer.

[Chas]

Thanks everyone. Hoping visiting the vet will be later rather than sooner, but at least I have an idea of where to go and what to expect.