No Animal Left Behind
Recognizing a need in the community, a family-run clinic steps in to treat animals large and small on the North Shore.
Text by Tracy Chan
Images by Christian Cook and Keith Ketchum
When the Kaua‘i North Shore Animal Clinic first opened its doors in August 2019, managers Jessica and Susan Fredericks weren’t sure what to expect. The only full-service veterinary clinic of its type on the North Shore, the vision was to provide excellence in everything from comprehensive routine care to emergency services for animals large and small, with a lab, pharmacy, and on-call 24-hour emergency appointments. The community welcomed the sisters with enthusiasm, and soon the clinic was busy treating horses, cows, goats, sheep, cats, dogs, parrots, hamsters, rabbits, tortoises—and a surprising number of pet chickens.
“We’re the only practice that will see all species,” says Jessica, who serves as one of the clinic’s practice managers. “It was a huge priority for us to provide care for [all animals] when they need it.”
Even throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the clinic stayed open, weathering the storm with resilience. “In many ways, we didn't feel a lot of the impact that many small businesses have felt,” Jessica says.
“People’s pets are their family members, and whether there’s a pandemic or not, they still need care.”
The staff adapted to the pandemic’s unexpected circumstances and social-distancing restrictions by taking proactive steps to continue serving the strong client base they had built. To supplement the services they could provide due to capacity precautions in the office, they offered telemedicene appointments and set up curbside service, allowing them to treat a greater number of animals. The large animal practice—overseen by Susan and Dr. Shannon Moreaux, an award-winning equine specialist and husband to one of the clinic’s small animal specialists, Dr. Cindy Moreaux—continued to offer mobile appointments, although many equine events were canceled in 2020. And although some medications were in short supply across the country because they were also in demand for treating human patients, the team did their research and found substitutions, while still providing the best care they could for their animal patients.
A passion for animals took root early in life for Jessica and Susan, who grew up riding horses competitively in California and worked as veterinary technicians when they were 16 years old. When their family relocated to Kaua‘i, the sisters co-founded Garden Island Equestrian, an English riding program that they operated in Princeville until the summer of 2020. “Horses have taken me around the world, and they’ll always be something that's part of our lives,” Jessica says.
Fittingly, it was horses that led the Fredericks sisters to bring veterinary services to the North Shore community. When Dr. Scott Sims (some might know him as the star of the Nat Geo Wild reality television series Aloha Vet, which aired in 2015) passed away, it left a void in available care options for large animals on the North Shore. Jessica, Susan, and one of their good friends, Dr. Clayton Matchett, a large animal veterinarian from Makawao, Maui, ended up stepping in to fill that need.
“We started talking about the practice in 2017, and it was a couple years in the making,” Jessica says. “We knew we wanted to have a location on the North Shore ... somewhere that was accessible to people as part of a community.” As luck would have it, one of Jessica and Susan’s equestrian students, Kirsten Hermstad, was a consultant for Hunt Companies, a local developer, and helped them find the perfect location in a historic stone building. “She really helped shepherd us through the process as not only an animal lover on the North Shore, but as a friend,” Jessica says. “She saw our vision and tried to help us execute it.”
Despite the unusual circumstances of their first year in business, Jessica, Susan, and their team of doctors, veterinary technicians, and support staff, including their newest small animal doctor, Dr. James Oldeschulte, who joined the clinic in October 2020, feel fortunate to be serving their community on the North Shore. “Every day can be unusual and fun,” Jessica says. “I hope that we’re a part of the community that people cherish and can rely on.”
