Makana Aloha

Makana Aloha is one of six puppies born to her parents, Simba and Baby, in the foster family's guest room 29 June 1999.

Makana, like the rest of her siblings was born genetically scared. Consequently, we needed to be very careful in placing all of the pups for their safety and well being. At one point, Makana and her brother Konane tried to move in with a family that volunteers with Chow Rescue to become part of their family and be companions to their Chow Katrina. But once Katrina figured out that the kids were there to stay, she decided they needed to go and the three of them would get into some serious arguments. Finally it was decided that it was not going to work out between the three kids, so we took the brother and sister back.

When Kapeka was moving to upstate New York, we took her sisters Makana Aloha and Lehua for a last play date. The following are pictures of them from that farewell visit.

Kapeka and Makana Aloha 16 April 2000

Lehua and Mommy Julie 16 April 2000

Kapeka, Lehua, Makana Aloha, Lindsey, and Aunty 16 April 2000

Kapeka, Makana Aloha, and Lehua playing 4-16-00

There was a couple that had been coming to visit with all the fur kids at our adoption days from the time before the puppies were born. They lived in a condo where they weren't allowed even a fish as a pet. They visited all the fur kids at the store every weekend they could for two years, getting their "doggie fix". One day the husband came to adoption day while his wife was out of town, said that they were going to sell their condo, buy a new home where they could have pets, and wanted to adopt Konane. We had seen them interact with the fur kids for the two years they attended adoption days, and knew they would give him a great home. Upon the return of the wife from her trip, they came to adoption day again, but this time the wife said that she had really wanted to adopt Makana Aloha, Konane's sister. In short, they wanted to adopt them both.

So, once the couple moved into their new home, we delivered their new family to them. Konane and Makana are very happy in their new home and get to play with their brother Keali'i and sister Lehua from time to time. We get to see the kids every week as they come to most of our adoption days since their parents have become very dedicated volunteers for Chow Rescue. The kids go to doggie school with Miriam Fields and are doing well. We were very fortunate to have found such a wonderful home for the two kids!

We went over to Konane and Makana’s home to visit on Easter and took the opportunity to get some new pictures of the kids for their webpages. Dad was helping Makana pose for her Aunty and Uncle. What you can’t see very well in the pictures is the fact the Makana has some relatively bare spots. About a year ago her Mom and Dad discovered that she was getting bare on her sides. They had taken Makana to see the Dr. and many tests had been run. She even visited a dermatologist. It was finally discovered that Makana had a condition called Sebaceous Adenitis. The condition is an immune deficiency disorder; the body's immune system attacks and destroys the sebaceous glands. It makes the body incapable of naturally producing oil for the skin and fur/hair. Essential fatty acid (EFA) oil supplements become crucial as do oil baths to keep the skin supple otherwise, it is prone to drying out, cracking, and thus becoming infected. One of the best ways of combating this condition is changing the diet to a natural one in which all of the appropriate raw foods are fed. Makana’s Mom and Dad have changed her diet and her hair has been growing back in.

We tried getting pictures of the two kids together, but of course, try and get them to look at the camera at the same time, much less get them to stay still and not run off. We finally gave up on the idea of the perfect pictures and just took what we could get. Actually, we were pretty lucky in that we were able to get a few really cute pictures.

Mom and Dad were just about to leave the house to take the kids for a walk before we’d arrived, so off on their walk they went as we left. We turned around and snuck up on them as they walked down the street and got the one picture before we called out to the kids that prompted Mom and Dad to bring the kids around for another photo op.