Hi Wren,
I checked www.abchomeopathy.com, entered sore feet, and it came up
with Hippomanes. I clicked that word and a description of what it
works on came up in a separate dialog box. It appears that it is a
mostly male remedy. You should check this out because when treating
symptoms with homeopathy it's not necessary to know the cause. But,
it also gives you some other areas to check on the alpaca. I found it
extremely interesting that it is such a male remedy.
All the best,
Sheri
At 11:48 PM 11/7/2007, you wrote:
>Hi group -
>
>My farm is experiencing a first here and we, along with the doctors at
>Cornell, are presently miffed. They're going to be running some more
>tests, including blood work, first thing this morning, but I thought
>I'd run this by you all and see if anyone else has experienced this.
>
>Ten days ago one of my males started holding up his front right foot
>and not wanting to place any weight on it. Clearly it hurt and he
>would hobble over here and there to graze and then cush for awhile
>where he would eat all around himself, then get up again and hobble to
>his next spot of choice. His appetite stayed stable and he otherwise
>appeared happy and healthy.
>
>I looked at his foot and leg very closely and saw nothing obvious
>other than some swelling on the outer most pad of that foot. He had
>no temperature. I had the vet take a look, too, and he concurred and
>prescribed twice per day soaks in epsom salts and warm water, plus
>2ccs of banamine. We gave him a shot of banamine that day and decided
>to also confine his movement and separate him from the other boys.
>
>He's spent the last ten days or so in his own comfy stall in the
>center of the barn, moved to an outer edge stall and sunny paddock
>during the days for sunbathing and stretching his legs, etc., and
>change of scenery, and then taken back to his central stall at the end
>of the day for the evening. His attitude has been good and he's
>continued eating, until yesterday.
>
>The day before yesterday, we noticed that while his front right has
>seemed almost 100% "back," he was favoring his back left leg/foot now.
>We watched him over the course of the day and the next morning
>(yesterday) he was worse and really not wanting to even get up. He
>would if really asked and urged, but would not fully put any weight on
>his back left. He would not eat is grain. I took his temperature and
>it was 103.4, so I called Cornell and made an appointment to take him
>on in.
>
>They checked him over thoroughly and even had the orthopedic surgeons
>department examine him. He will walk when asked to, but with a very
>off gate. Imagine slightly favoring the front right foot and heavily
>favoring the back left, barely letting that back left inner toe touch
>the ground for balance and pulling his hock in and leg up a bit.
>
>Menengial has been ruled out based on his being on a consistent
>routine for prevention, plus he's not walking like it's neurological.
>
>An infection of some kind is suspected.
>
>I watched him closely all day and in the stall at Cornell for hours
>and while I saw him work his way to the water bucket and drink, and he
>has been nibbling on hay, he has not urinated. My mind wanders and I
>wonder if there could be some sort of bladder or kidney problem
>causing some internal pain that might at least be contributing to his
>pulling that back left leg up. When the vets check his range of
>motion, they can pull and manipulate his leg every which way and he's
>not freaking out or anything. They don't find any dislocation.
>
>Any other ideas? His temp had lowered to 102 something by the time we
>were there and being seen by the first doctor. He was lying down when
>I left last night, but bright eyed and alert. He does not like to
>have his feet right up underneath himself and wants to keep both back
>legs/feet out to the side of his body instead (either side...he is not
>favoring left or right for this rest position).
>
>Oh, and we've found that three of his four feet are tender on the toe
>pads.
>
>Thanks so much for taking the time to read this post and contribute
>your thoughts if you can. I really appreciate it, as I am worried and
>have never experienced or heard of anything like this with any other
>alpaca in my few short years with them. I just want to get the word
>out about it to as many people as possible with hope that someone has
>some knowledge about this sort of problem, and can allay my fears or
>help provide us with some clear direction.
>
>Wren Owens
>Close-Knit Alpacas &
>Alpacas in the USA!
>Woodhull, NY 14898
>
>
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