Dave,
What do you have in the way of pets?
You don't mention what type, species of pets that you are bringing, but many vets lean towards specialty, so you might mention what you have. Also the same for food. Hard to answer if you don't know what you are comparing to. Do you have rats, pigs, birds, dogs, cats, horse, gerbils, large animal, small animal, too numerous to list etc.?
Some various thoughts surrounding this:
Vicki Boening in HPP and her husband with another person own a vet clinic in Hilo.
She has many turtle/tortoise so I am sure they are very good at knowing about that species. The vet that works for them, I thought specialized in small animals. If you are bringing exotics, I read about some and have kept those names, but would not search for them unless I knew it would be beneficial and you mention the need here.
The things I would not be without even having worked in a vet clinic surgical unit would be a good veterinary book pertaining to the spices that you own. If you own dogs or cats, the authors/books that I have found beneficial to others without the medical terminology is Dog/Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook (3rd ed. for Dog not sure, for cat, since I don't own one)by James Giffin MD and Liisa Carlson DVM Copyright 2000 I got it at Walmart.com online ordering for less than 20, at Petsmart it is $30. I have a bunch of other ones too, but can't recommend not knowing the species. Just mention dog and cat since those are the most common pets. ))
In any case whether you live in a rural environment or not, it is still a great idea to study and keep current on what is the best care and husbandry of your particular pet. There are online resources like the Merk Manual which you can also reference things quickly, but does not go into as much detail as owning the books. Great search engines too for looking into finding out what to do in case of emergency if you copy them ahead of time and post in a folder that you have for your pet. So you know where to quickly reference this ahead of time. For instance, if your pet eats things from the trash, like my new dog does. I try to remember when I am cooking to keep everything towards the bottom, then empty it when I am done, but he is quick and very observant. He is also a very good daddy to his new pups! He ate onion that was cooked that I threw away a couple days ago. I gave him 5 Tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide and he threw them up, the books list this, telling you amount to give per weight of your pet and it is harmless to them, they tell you how often and how to administer to your pets so that they do not choke. Eating something that they are not supposed to is one of the biggest reasons a dog sees a vet. Usually you can take care of many of these type of emergency things at home. Like getting one of those Buffo/Cane toads in their mouths. Rinse and rinse like 5 minutes until the animals gets all the mucous out of the mouth, if found early enough, if the animal is showing other symptoms and you did not see it with the toad in its mouth, evaluate it to see if it is showing signs of the toxin. Then you would decide whether to seek more care by calling a vet or if you cannot, then reading further about it. But this is a common thing on the island, so moving there you should know and study what to do for your pet because it is common for the area. Mosquito's carry Dengue Fever at times, scorpions or centipedes give some nasty bites along with spiders, bees etc. Find out ahead of time what the most com mom threats are to the area just like a person would do for themselves and take care to learn what to do.
There are also so many great lists that one can belong to to help keep current and ask questions of long time seasoned members who give great advice and would help in an emergency if you were not able to get to a clinic if one were not available and help you to know what to do. So it might mean keeping a trusted mentor/sources phone number and asking if you can call them too. If help is not readily available on the island. It is better to learn what to do in case of trauma or if an animal is throwing up after ingesting something and be prepared wether you have a clinic available or not, it is just part and parcel of owning a pet, just like a kid. You can help prevent their death or more serious injury by knowing what you can do before you take them to an emergency clinic. They are dependant upon you for their health and welfare.
Hey, maybe we should start a pet chat forum Mella!!? I know you are busy getting ready to start your moving. Maybe there is one in our future.....
Lucy
Having another Great day in Paradise, Wherever that Maybe!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLanai
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