Xander Still at Emergency Vet

I had not heard from Dr. Duffy by 10:30 this morning so I called. I was told everyone was busy and someone would call back soon. I waited for the call for about 30 minutes out on the 2nd Floor Landing; I don't like to take or make calls while I'm in Dad's room. I got a call about 5 minutes after I got back to Dad's room, so I went back out. The vet tech said Xander was doing better, his glucose level was back to normal, and Dr. Duffy would call me back later with a more in depth report after he was done with patients. Dr. Duffy did call about 12:30 and gave me a full report. The bottom line is Xander would get another blood glucose test, which he expected to be normal. The issue was with his eating; he ate well last night, but not since then. If he does not eat, he would be back in the ER again. Dr. Duffy said if he did not eat they wanted to keep him another night & do an ultrasound tomorrow to find out why he's not eating. After I left Maunalani this evening I went to visit him (Xander, not Dr. Duffy); he was looking lethargic. I was able to get Xander to eat a little and I gave him my shirt to sleep with. He struggled to stand up, but then he squatted in the cat bed and peed! He really isn't feeling well.

Xander would eat only when I held the bowl up for him.

While I was at VERC visiting Xander, I realized I did not leave one of my used shirts with him yesterday to let him know he was not being abandoned. I left one today; it's a good thing that I have been using my long-sleeved flannel shirt like a light jacket.

Before.

After.

Aftermath.

Xander will have an ultrasound tomorrow to find out what else is going on that is making him not feel like eating. Last year I spent about $7000 on his medical procedures and specialized boarding. So far he is costing about $2000 this year. The winner in all this is Kai; I told him I would pay as much for him this year that I paid for Xander last year. Looks like he will have a bunch more coming his way for next year.

There was a print of an 1865 painting called, Manoa Valley from Waikiki, in the visiting room. It was apparently a part of the 1992 exhibit, Encounters in Paradise: Views of Hawaii and Its People, 1778-1941, at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. I noticed there were 2 waterfowl to the left of the horse riders. I tried to identify them, but I think the artist, Enoch Wood Perry, Jr., took some artistic license with them; I couldn't find anything in the Honolulu Audubon book, Hawaii's Birds, that they could be.

Manoa Valley from Waikiki, 1865. Enoch Wood Perry, Jr. American, 1831-1915.

Ducks.

While I was waiting for the vet tech to call this morning, I watched the bus go down the street where it surprised me; I could see the top of the bus over the roof of several houses which means the houses are below the grade of the road. (I apparently did not write about my surprise encounter with the bus on the detour a few weeks ago. I definitely did not get any photos of it; I was too busy trying to find a safe place to pull over and let it by!)

DaBus at left edge of photo, near house with light blue roof.

DaBus in gap behind 1st and 2nd houses.

DaBus ends up on this street, I missed the photo.

I also finally saw someone using their deck! Sort of. I actually think it might have been someone doing some repair work for the homeowner, the person appeared to be dressed in a long-sleeved safety yellow shirt. Which is why I saw the person in the first place, that shirt really stood out! So perhaps there have been other people out on their decks but I haven't been able to see them because they were not so visible. From the 2nd Floor Landing I can see about 30 houses, about 10 appear to have decks (that I can see from this side). I had been thinking being able to see people on their decks is like looking for endangered species. Since I am generally only out on the 2nd Floor Landing for 3 minutes once a day, and its generally the same time period each day, it would have to be the right 3 minutes for me to see someone on their deck. Now I am wondering if they are just too well camouflaged for me to see, like those endangered species! And I had been wondering, Why have a deck if you're not going to use it? May be they are out there, I just can't spot them easily.

You can also see the person on the deck in the middle photo showing DaBus.

I got Dad out of bed for both breakfast & lunch today; he wanted to sit out at the table on the 2nd Floor Lanai on the westerly side of the building. And as usual he did not eat much of the solid food, but did well on drinking the liquid supplements. I need to find out from Dr. Gries or one of the nurses how long before the dronabinol (Marinol) begins to take effect if it is going to be useful.

Dad sitting in the 2nd floor dining room; he wanted to sit outside.

Dad enjoying the view of Pearl Harbor and the Airport.

During lunch Dad said he needed to use the toilet, so I took him back to his room. While CNA Michael helped Dad in the toilet, I noticed something small on the floor. It was the dronabinol (Marinol) capsule that RN Ellie had given Dad about 30 minutes before we went out on the deck for lunch! He had apparently kept it in his mouth, then spit it out when no one was looking. I will have to be more vigilant; if it doesn't stay in it will never have a chance to work!


While out on the 2nd Floor Lanai I noticed that there were jets flying over Maunalani. I think it must be the jets coming in from the West Coast; its been so long since I've flown in from the West Coast that I can't remember their flight path. I know the ones coming from the southeast parts of the state fly past Leahi; on all my recent returns from the West Coast I have come back via Kona so I could check up on the renovation work. I will have to check what side of the plane I am sitting on when I return from my trip in June and have my seat on the left side so I can try to get photos of Maunalani from the air.


I also noticed the number of very large buildings in the downtown area. I'm not sure why I never noticed it before; there must be thousands of people there. I think perhaps my inner hermit was trying to avoid noticing that there were so many people. I'm so glad I have somewhere to go that has way less people.


On my walk to the park today I saw a bunch of LBB's; Little Brown Birds, the birders' bane. They might be Japanese Bush-warblers or African Silverbills or Nutmeg Mannikins or something else totally. I will need to see them again to get better photos, check for key identifying marks, and listening to their calls.

I know they're not House Sparrows or House Finches; just don't know what they are.

My friend Lois called as we were getting ready to eat dinner. She brought over some mangoes from her family's tree. I peeled 3 of them tonight; they were sweet and flavorful! Mahalo, Lois!


We watched the Memorial Day lantern floating ceremony at Ala Moana on the television; a good use for TV.

(Screen shot from KGMB)

Happy Birthday to Johnny!