KINGSTON — A restless patient lay awake as the medical technicians waited patiently for sleep to come. The technicians petted and cooed at the patient, a cat that awaited spaying.

Patience won out as the cat drifted softly into slumber, the technicians comforting her.

Such is another day at Tender Touch Animal Hospital at 27099 Miller Bay Road NE in Kingston, where each patient is treated with dignity.

“I try to treat each patient as if they’re my own pet,”, said veterinarian Monica Wlodarchak.

Specializing in providing veterinary care, preventative treatment, dentistry and soft-tissue surgery in dogs and cats, her goal was to keep the hospital as self-sustaining as possible. Onsite radiology, an intensive care unit and an in-house laboratory allow her to do just that, she said.

Wlodarchak is a local girl. A Poulsbo resident, she lived just inside the Central Kitsap School District attendance district and graduated from Central Kitsap High School in 1992. From there, she took some classes at Olympic College and earned her veterinary degree from Washington State University.

After graduation, she worked for a local veterinarian for six years. That practice was purchased, giving Wlodarchak the push she needed to start her own practice, which opened in December.

“I love working with people and teaching them about animal health and how to increase their pets’ longevity,” she said.

Tender Touch is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday. For more information, call (360) 881-0099.