Unfortunately, by the time this article is printed I will have moved back to my home in Utah. I did not want to leave this lovely Island before I had a chance to write about Catalina’s True Island treasure and that would be a veterinarian by the name of Dr. Richard Denney.
I moved to my mother’s childhood home in June 2012.
When my husband, my mother and I arrived, we were also dragging along our dog Rainy Day who just days before we left Utah wrestled with some barb wire and came out on the losing end of things.
Unfortunately, by the time this article is printed I will have moved back to my home in Utah. I did not want to leave this lovely Island before I had a chance to write about Catalina’s True Island treasure and that would be a veterinarian by the name of Dr. Richard Denney.
I moved to my mother’s childhood home in June 2012.
When my husband, my mother and I arrived, we were also dragging along our dog Rainy Day who just days before we left Utah wrestled with some barb wire and came out on the losing end of things.
She arrived in Catalina with 23 staples to her front leg.
One of the first things I did upon arriving was to take Rainy in to meet the Island vet so that he could check on how she was healing. I was expecting a sweet little old man who had limited but adequate skills to keep my dog in one piece.
Needless to say I was shocked at whom I met.
Not only was this man one of the most gentle souls I have ever met (besides my husband) but also one of the most knowledgeable and skilled veterinarians I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
I have been working with animals and veterinarians for years and years and I have been fortunate to know many good ones.
However, I have never known one as good as Dr. Denney.
He is a true artist of his field and I have come to call him the “Modern Day St. Francis of Assisi.”
A way of finding trouble
In this last month he has saved my dog’s life not once, but twice. Being a Weimananer (in fact the only one on the Island) she has a way of finding trouble.
We were playing her favorite game of stick and one actually impaled her throat as she reached for it.
This occurred in Salt Lake City and we had emergency vets in Santa Barbara actually knock her out to make sure there was no permanent damage.
However, after we got home she was just not responding to the antibiotics.
Dr. Denney ended up having to remove her mandibular salivary gland and found several large shards of wood lying right next to vital vessels.
By this time she had been fighting infection for several weeks and the surgery that was done was in a very tedious place to work.
While she was recovering nicely from that surgery she wouldn’t eat and couldn’t keep anything down.
The night before he went on his long overdue and much needed vacation, he did emergency surgery again to remove an object that had completely obstructed her bowel and monitored her until midnight when he followed my husband and I home to help us carry her inside.
He came over the next morning to give her the last bit of IV fluids (he had been giving her IV fluids every day for days at his office before the surgery) missing his 8 a.m. boat and instead taking the 11:45.
For days after he left, he would call two to three times a day checking to make sure Rainy was on the right path to recovery.
It has been several days since her surgery and she is now running and playing, eating and unfortunately “counter cruising.”
She is back better than ever. I owe her life to Dr. Denney as he worked tirelessly to resolve Rainy’s health issues all the while working tirelessly and just as earnestly to help everyone else’s pet.
Never in all my years of experience have I known a finer example of a man and a vet for not only is he extremely skilled but he has more compassion and empathy for his patients than anyone I have ever seen.
Unfortunately, my family has to move back to Utah for a myriad of reasons and it breaks my heart to be leaving Dr. Denney and his wife Anney as I have come to see them as friends.
If there was any way I could stuff him in my suitcase and take him back to Utah I would.
I shall never forget what he did for our family and my sweet Rainy.
The people of Avalon are indeed fortunate to have with them this Island treasure and he will always be remembered for going above and beyond in saving Rainy’s life.
