I posted this cat update on Facebook yesterday, but realized some readers here are following the tale of Kinikini. So here’s a repost!

Well, Kinikini had to make an unexpected visit to the vet today, earning his first vet bill in the process. Here’s the tale.

Friday evening, I noticed Kini was scratching his left ear. By Saturday morning, he had managed to scrape off enough fur that I could see a small puncture wound, like the entry of a single claw. I put some Neosporin on it and checked on it during the day. By evening, there was a clear lump, and he had scratched it enough to open up a wound maybe 1/8″ long. More neosporin.

Sunday morning we went out to breakfast with friends. After returning, I went in to check on Kini, leaving the door open. I was just assessing his ear when Romeo took the opportunity to seize my attention by strolling right into the room.

Romeo first checked out Kini’s carrier, which was on the floor, walked into it to process the smells, came out, nibbled a few kibbles in Kini’s dish, and then slowly walked over to the futon and was going to climb climb up where I was sitting with Kini, who responded with a very faint hiss, but not much else.

But at this point I wanted to check Kini’s ear, so I encouraged Romeo to leave. Good thing, because the little wound was starting to drool a little, and was looking nasty. I thought of all the instructions I read about adopting an FIV positive cat. All warned that I would need to jump on any infection as soon as possible, as his immune system might have trouble keeping it under control. It didn’t take me long to decide to call and try to get him an appointment.

Well, it turns out Sunday is a busy day at a veterinary practice. Our regular vet has Sunday off, and the rest of the crew were booked up. But I after a bit of a wait on hold, I was told that I could drop him off, and they would check him about between other appointments. And that’s what I did. I dropped Kini off about 11:30.

The good news is that one of our other long-ago vets, Dr. Leianne Lee Loy, called a little before 1:30. She had checked him out. His temperature wasn’t too high, so the infection hadn’t gotten too far along. She said it was oozing fluid, but it didn’t appear to be puss, apparently a good thing. She gave him an antibiotic shot and declared him good to go, for now.

Dr. Lee Loy was our regular vet at VCA in Kaneohe back in 2002, when Duke was born. She examined him (and the two other kittens) on the same day he was born! She later moved to Arlene Skillman’s office in Manoa, and we kept in touch from time to time. So we were very happy when, probably a couple of years ago, she joined the staff of our current vet clinic in Hawaii Kai.

Kini is back home and happy to be in his safe room. Luckily, he is already scheduled for a full checkup with our regular vet on Tuesday morning, so she can take another look at his ear then. Yes, another vet bill.

All good, and hopefully I can now continue the process of introducing him to Romeo and Annie.