Vet services in Kilifi
Around an hour north, built around the creek. Kilifi's pet population skews towards long-stay expatriate households and working farm dogs on the edges.
Getting to you
Kilifi is about an hour north on the Malindi Road, traffic permitting. We cover it on scheduled visiting days, which we plan around the north coast run so Kilifi, Watamu and Malindi share a day.
Parking at the clinic
Parking is straightforward across Kilifi town and at the creek.
Keeping a dog or cat in Kilifi
- Kilifi has a long-established sailing and boatyard community around the creek, and a notable number of dogs here live on or around boats and yards. Marine antifouling paints, solvents and yard chemicals are a poisoning risk specific to this area that we do not see in Mombasa's residential suburbs.
- The town sits where residential compounds meet working farmland and baobab bush, so Kilifi dogs are far more likely to encounter livestock, and with them the acaricides used on cattle. Those products cause dog poisonings and are lethal to cats.
- Kilifi's expatriate households tend to be long-stay rather than seasonal, so their animals are older and better documented than Diani's. More of our Kilifi work is chronic and geriatric than reactive.
- Being roughly an hour north of Mombasa, Kilifi owners often manage a problem at home for longer before travelling. That delay is understandable and it is why we would rather answer a question by phone early than see a case that has run for a week.
Kilifi divides into two veterinary populations and they need different things.
Around the creek there is a long-standing sailing and boatyard community, and a good number of dogs live in or around the yards. That brings a hazard specific to this town: antifouling paints, solvents and the residues that soak into yard sand. Dogs walk through them and lick their paws. Vomiting, drooling or unsteadiness after time in a yard should be treated as a possible poisoning rather than an upset stomach.
Away from the water, compounds meet farmland and bush, and Kilifi dogs meet livestock far more than Mombasa’s do. That matters mostly because of what is kept for the cattle: acaricide dips and pour-ons are on hand, they are cheap, and they are used on dogs. Several are unsafe for dogs and lethal to cats, including by contact.
Kilifi households tend to stay for years rather than seasons, so the animals here are older and better documented than further south. More of our work here is chronic and geriatric, which is the kind of medicine that rewards continuity.
We run Kilifi, Watamu and Malindi as one north coast day rather than separate trips. Tell us early and we will build the route around you.
Where we visit in Kilifi
Kilifi Creek · Bofa · Mnarani · Kilifi town · Mtondia
Most booked in Kilifi
Common questions
My dog lives around the boatyard. Anything specific to watch for?
Yes. Antifouling paints, solvents and the residues in yard sand are genuinely toxic, and dogs pick them up on paws and then lick them off. If your dog is vomiting, drooling or unsteady after time in a yard, treat that as a possible poisoning and ring us.
It is an hour to you. When is it worth the drive?
Ring and describe it and we will tell you honestly. Some things genuinely wait for the next visiting day. Others do not, and we would rather say so than have you weigh it up alone.
Book a vet in Mombasa
Clinic appointments, or a vet at your door across Mombasa and the coast. Tell us what is wrong and we will say how soon your pet needs to be seen.