Welcoming All Creatures Great and Small
Meet MidWeek’s newest columnist, veterinarian Dr. John Kaya, whose love for animals means he never turns away a sick one. Here he holds four newborn husky pups
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MidWeek’s newest columnist, veterinarian Dr. John Kaya, never turns away a sick animal
Meet MidWeek‘s newest columnist, veterinarian Dr. John Kaya. The Wild Side debuts in this issue (page 46), offering a glimpse of what goes on behind closed doors at one of Hawaii’s busiest animal hospitals.
“I’ll be writing actual true stories of people and their animals that have come to see me, but with a lighthearted, humorous approach,” says Kaya, who works at the VCA University Animal Hospital, along with Dr. Russell Shoji and Dr. LeiAnne LeeLoy. “The column should be entertaining and fun, and at the same time bring real issues to people with pets, including tips related to the story.”
Kaya, who was born and raised in Kalihi and graduated from Moanalua High School in 1985, knew he wanted to work in the medical field when he was a young teen. But after graduating from the University of Hawaii with a B.A. in education, Kaya became a teacher at Kaala Elementary in Wahiawa.
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Shortly after, he moved to the Mainland and had a career change, going into financial advising for two years.
But the dream of becoming a doctor was still in him, and he eventually decided to pursue it.
“At that time I was debating between pediatrics and veterinary medicine,” recalls Kaya. “I love children and animals.”
In the end, the animals won as Kaya went on to attend the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota.
He graduated in 1999 and moved back to Hawaii, where he’s been a veterinarian for the last 10 years.
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“There are so many great things about my job, such as playing with the puppies and kittens and meeting new pet owners,” says Kaya, who serves on the Board of Veterinary Examiners and is an officer for the Honolulu Veterinarian Society. “Most recently, I saw a pregnant animal who was having a difficult time giving birth and we needed to intervene by doing a Cesarean. And when the mother wakes up, I get to introduce the puppies to her and see that bond.
“It’s an experience where I can see why OB-GYNs do what they do at the hours of the day that they do.”
As for the most challenging part of his job, it’s the serious cases he gets involving an animal that is dying or has a poor prognosis.
“That’s one of the hardest things we do, talking to clients about the options they have, including euthanasia due to the animal’s suffering,” says Kaya, 41. “As veterinarians we wear many different hats, such as dental work, surgery, dermatology, treat animals with cancer and do grief counseling.”
As a veterinarian who personally chooses to treat all pets, not just the usual dogs and cats, Kaya also has the challenge of keeping upto-date with so many different species.
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“I first worked at Aloha Pet Hospital with Dr. Douglas Chang, who I consider to be my mentor, and he really set the blueprint for the type of veterinarian I wanted to be,” explains Kaya. “At his clinic I was encouraged to see as many different animals as I could. I remember my first day, I saw two dogs, two cats, a cockatiel, a turtle, a rabbit and a chin-chilla. And when you come out of veterinary school you’re not quite as prepared for the exotic animals, so it was a steep learning curve for me.
“Now, I’ll see whatever comes to me, even fish. My philosophy is that as a society, when we accept the responsibility of having a pet, we need to provide the best care possible to the pet, and what I noticed early on was that not many people saw the different types of animals out there. For example, people would call around and say please, please, please see my salamander.”
In addition to salamanders, some of the unusual animals Kaya has worked
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