Surgery

We handle soft tissue surgery, lump and mass removal, wound repair and sterilisation. Anything outside that we refer, and we will tell you so at the consultation rather than partway through.

Two things shape surgery on this coast.

Anaesthetic and heat. An animal under and immediately after anaesthetic cannot regulate its temperature properly. In coastal heat that is a real risk rather than a theoretical one, which is why we run morning lists and why we would rather move an elective procedure than run it on the hottest afternoon of the week.

Humidity and wounds. Warm damp conditions favour exactly the bacteria that cause wound infections, and they slow drying. A wound that would be unremarkable upcountry warrants closer attention here, kept clean, kept dry, kept out of sand, and actually looked at rather than described over the phone.

Every surgical patient gets a pre-operative examination and an honest conversation about risk. For an elective procedure on an older animal, sometimes the right answer is not to operate at all, and we will say so.

A lump that has appeared or changed recently is worth looking at sooner rather than watching for months. Most are harmless, and the ones that are not do far better while they are small.

The day itself

Knowing the shape of the day removes most of the anxiety, and there are a couple of coastal details worth planning around.

The night before. Withhold food from about ten in the evening unless we have said otherwise. Leave water down. Fasting an animal from water is actively harmful in this climate, where dehydration builds fast, and it is a common misunderstanding.

Admission in the morning, early, before the day heats up. This is deliberate: an animal under and recovering from anaesthetic cannot regulate its temperature, and afternoon coastal heat is the worst possible environment for that.

Travel to us in the cool. An animal that arrives already heat-stressed is a worse anaesthetic candidate. If you are coming from Likoni or Mtwapa, leave earlier than you think you need to.

Going home. Most routine surgical patients go home the same afternoon. Bring a towel for the car and be prepared for a groggy animal that may be unsteady on its feet for the evening.

Recovery in humidity, specifically

The instruction that gets broken most on this coast is the one about water. No sea, no pool, no beach, until we have checked the wound and said so. Salt water and fine sand in a healing incision is exactly how a routine surgery becomes an infected one, and it is the single commonest post-operative complication we see here.

Beyond that: keep the wound dry, keep the animal out of sand, and check it daily in good light. Humid conditions favour the bacteria that cause wound infections and slow the drying that would otherwise protect it.

Come back sooner rather than later if the wound opens, bleeds, smells, or discharges anything other than a little clear fluid, if your animal will not eat by the following day, or if it seems in pain despite the medication we sent home.