[Alpacasite] Re: Stubborn internal parasites

HA!

I just read Steve's recommendations after my last post went up.
Steve's recommendations are completely different, and just as valid
as mine. I greatly suspect if Dr Ruthanne has simultaneously posted
recommendations they would be equally valid and just as different.

This happens all the time (in human practice we call it "The Art of
Medicine").

What is important here is to pick one set of recommendations and
follow it through, measuring your results all the while.

Again, best of luck,

Neil
A Paca Fun Farm
Mt. Airy, Maryland
Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland
www.apacafunfarm.com

--- In Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com, "mpcpneilp" <mpcpneilp@a...> wrote:
>
> Chuck,
>
> This is the kind of question that a primary care physician faces
> virtually every week ;-)
>
> The simple answer is that given the treatment is benign and the
> animal is otherwise healthy, you can do any of your options and
> observe the results. You don't know what you are dealing with and
you
> don't know for sure if the alpaca got a full dose of treatment the
> first time (could have gotten an inactivated or inadequate dose).
>
> Ideally, before proceding I would prefer to have better information
> about the infection. If I knew with more certainty what the
parasite
> was I would have a better idea how to treat it, resistant or not.
>
> Trudy's point about about a compromised immune system is very
valid.
> Checking a CBC, protein level, and even immunoglobulins could help
to
> determine if this were a problem.
>
> Finally, if my veterinary collegues are anything like the
infectious
> disease specialists I consult, if you ask 5 different docs your
> question you will likely get 5 different answer (with good reasons
> for each different solution!).
>
> My personal take on it is this, if you can't easily get more
> information, if the female is otherwise healthy, and if the various
> treatments are benign.........I would go with the "throw the
kitchen
> sink at her" method of treatment, which would be option 5 plus a
> third therapy if it were available. My reasoning would be that with
> triple therapy, full course treatment you are very unlikely to
> produce a new resistant strain (the worm would have to develop or
> maintain resistance to 3 different treatments at the same time).
> Further, this option is probably cheaper than sending slides off to
a
> university for further identification or expensive labwork. Plus,
if
> you do have a resistant worm in this particular female, you have
> removed a potential source of a nasty worm from the herd more
quickly
> than if you waited for more information. See what your vet thinks
> about that option.
>
> My 2 cents and the reason why.........
>
> Best of luck,
>
> Neil
> A Paca Fun Farm
> Mt. Airy, Maryland
> Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland
> www.apacafunfarm.com
>
> --- In Alpacasite@yahoogroups.com, "Chuck Rademacher"
> <chuck_rademacher@x> wrote:
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > As I mentioned previously, I feel like we've almost won the war
> against our
> > internal parasite problems. We've lost a few battles along the
> way, and I
> > have one female at the moment that isn't responding to the
> prescribed
> > treatment.
> >
> > This girl is seven years old, pregnant, with no cria at foot.
She
> is in
> > good condition with a high body score. She had a fairly high
fecal
> egg
> > count and we gave her the three-day treatment with Oxfen,
a "white"
> drench
> > similar to Panacur. This treatment has worked quite effectively
> on 45
> > other alpacas in our herd. Three weeks after giving her the
three-
> day
> > treatment, her FEC is through the roof again. My best guess is
> that the
> > parasites are Haemonchus, but I'm not really qualified to say with
> > certainty. The rest of the herd have almost zero FEC's.
> >
> > Why didn't the three-day treatment work on her? Her FEC wasn't
any
> higher
> > than others where the three-day treatment did work. Is it
possible
> that her
> > internal parasites are resistant and those in the other alpacas
are
> not? I
> > know that she did not spit out any of the drench.
> >
> > At this point, she is on day two of a multi-day treatment using
the
> same
> > oral drench. Here are my questions:
> >
> > 1. Should we just give her a repeat of the three-day treatment or
> >
> > 2. should we give her a five-day treatment or
> >
> > 3. should we give her a three-day white drench treatment plus a
> Dectomax
> > injection or
> >
> > 4. should we give her a five-day white drench treatment plus a
> Dectomax
> > injection or
> >
> > 5. would you recommend another course of action.
> >
> > Our vet recommends the first course of action (#1 above). I
prefer
> either
> > #2 or #3. Ignoring the indicated preferences, what would you do?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Chuck Rademacher
> > Auckland, New Zealand
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>

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