When Rose arrived at Dr Emma’s pharmacy, in the centre of Nanyuki, she found Reuben and the distressed bloodhound had already arrived.
Dr Emma did not look like a typical vet. She was petite in stature but everything else about her was large: her afro-style hair, her round yellow glasses and her lips which today were painted a vivid shade of pink.
Neither was the pharmacy a typical veterinary clinic. Inside it looked just like a shop, which indeed it was, as Dr Emma supplemented her veterinary income by selling medicines and animal accessories.
Whenever she needed to operate, or perform a more in-depth examination of a patient, she cleared a white plastic table of its display of dog bowls, cat baskets and a red hamster cage – Rose thought the latter had been on display for at least five years.
The table had been cleared, moved into the centre of the room and covered with clean, but frayed towels. A large placid dog stood uncomfortably on it with his head and long floppy ears drooping forward. A trickle of drool leaked from the corner of his mouth.
Dr Emma prodded his stomach and commented, “Yes, it is certainly hard and swollen.”
Rose struggled to put on her white veterinary coat. When Reuben stepped across to help her, she asked him, “What happened?”
“We were searching for a missing cow in one of the villages bordering the conservancy. I noticed that Baz was panting and then he stopped and tried to retch but he didn’t vomit. I know that’s a sign of bloat as it’s very common in bloodhounds. So I drove him straight here to see Dr Emma.”
Rose approached the table and asked Dr Emma, “What do we need to do?”
“Pray that we’re in time and that we can release the build-up of air and gas with a simple stomach pump.” Dr Emma turned to Rueben and confided, “We can’t operate here to untwist his gut. If that’s happened, he’ll need to go to Nairobi. But let’s see what we can do.”
Dr Emma searched in a cupboard and removed a needle and glass bottle. “It’s recommended that stomach pumps are done under a general anaesthetic,” she explained, “but again, we don’t have the facilities for that. I’m going to give him a sedative instead, which will help ease his pain and discomfort, and make it easier for us to perform the procedure.”
She inserted the syringe and needle into the bottle and drew out a measure of liquid. As she turned it over and pushed the plunger to remove the air bubbles she asked, “Can you hold him still, Rose, and if possible, Rueben, can you distract him?”
Baz was now sitting on the table and it was easy for Rose to wrap an arm around his middle. Reuben did the same with his neck, which he gently massaged with his free hand as he whispered in Swahili into the dog’s ear.
Dr Emma gripped the top of his thigh to isolate the muscles, inserted the needle and slowly depressed the plunger.
Next to her was a black bucket which held a length of silicone tube, a cloth and a white tub. She smeared some lubricant jelly from the tub around half the length of tube. Then she prised open the bloodhound’s mouth, placed the folded cloth between its jaws and inserted the end of the tube.
“Keep him still. This is the difficult part.”
Slowly she guided the tube into the dog’s mouth and down his oesophagus to his stomach. It stopped, so she pushed a bit harder and another inch of tube entered the dog. Immediately, they heard a hiss of escaping air.
Dr Emma wiped her sweating forehead with the back of her gloved hand. “Great, we’re in and we’ve released the trapped air. He should be more comfortable now, but I think I’ll also try to remove the contents of his stomach, just in case there’s something in there that caused the bloating.”
She sucked on the end of the tube and Rose watched a murky brown liquid rise up through it. Dr Emma spat and winced as she dropped the end of the tube into the bucket.
She strode across to her shop counter, grabbed a bottle of water and swirled some of its contents around her mouth. She spat into the bucket where the water mixed with the viscous liquid from the dog’s stomach.
Rose said, “His stomach feels much softer now and less swollen.” She looked across at Reuben, who was still whispering to the dog, and asked, “Was this one of the tracker dogs that found the body this morning?”
Dr Emma choked on the water she was drinking and exclaimed, “What body?”
“A young English woman,” replied Reuben. “Baz and Blaze found her, poor thing. Wild animals had already started scavenging her body.”