Re: [AlpacaTalk] Odd injury
My first thought is fighting teeth. They are extremely sharp and
dangerous. And, they continue to grow, so they need to be checked at
least yearly and trimmed as needed.
Heather
Heather Zeleny
White Lotus Alpacas
(formerly West Wind Alpacas)
Eugene, OR
541.895.0964
Holistic Farm and Elite Fleece
http://www.alpacana
http://tech.
On Jul 31, 2008, at 6:30 AM, houckj@aol.com wrote:
> Two mornings ago I saw a long slash on one of my alpaca's neck. Upon
> investigation I was horrified to see how extremely deep it is. I
> cleaned with warm soapy water to which I added grapefruit seed
> extract;
> then sprayed with saline solution and then liberally applied
> goldenseal.
> Discovered my baby's diaper makes a perfect neck bandage (held on with
> duct tape!). So have been doing this 2x day since and it looks to be
> healing up ok without infection - fingers tightly crossed.
>
> But I have been extremely puzzled by what could have caused such a
> serious injury. It is at the base of his neck; across the top and down
> one side. It is a neat slice like a knife would make. It is extremely
> deep - barely bled at all. By the time I saw it it was already too
> late
> for stitches - which it definitely should have had. Yesterday upon
> more
> relaxed examination I discovered this is not his only cut. He has a
> smaller one right next to the large deep one which is more of a deep
> scrape, but still like a slash. And 2 shorter, but almost as deep
> slashes higher up on the opposite side of the neck.
>
> I have examined the pasture - no blood anywhere, no hair or blood on
> the
> fence wire where there are some sharp points, but none that would make
> such a severe cut. At first I was thinking he got caught under
> something and hurt himself trying to get uncaught. But I can think of
> nothing that could have caused this.
>
> The only 2 possible clues I have to go on - one of our 7 loud large
> ducks that also live in that pasture also has disappeared - no
> evidence
> of a massacre anywhere, but the duck is just totally gone. Whenever I
> have had a predator get after my chickens there has been ample
> evidence
> left behind.
>
> The only other clue is that my young stud male, who is smaller than
> this
> gelding, had some faint bloody smears on the underside of his neck
> that
> morning as well. I hosed him off and saw he was not injured at all.
> These 2 occ mix it up, but nothing serious. They will do what I call
> the "neck dance" and it looks as if this male had his neck rubbing up
> against the gelding's wounded neck area, perhaps when the wound was
> fresh and bleeding a bit more than it was when I discovered it.
>
> We've never had any serious predators around here, tho there have been
> the occasional fox, bobcat, coyote, and bear sightings around here
> over
> the years.
>
> The more I think about it the more worried I am becoming about the
> predator possibility. I have put the ducks in an enclosed pen the past
> 2 nights and left on all the lights (the alpaca pasture is close to
> the
> house) at night. I couldn't sleep last night for going out to check on
> my pacas so many times. Yet, seems to me, any predator that would have
> gotten on the top of my boy's neck to make such a deep slashing wound
> with teeth surely would have finished off the job??
>
> This boy is my very curious (personality plus) paca. I am picturing
> some predator going after the duck and Snowball going to check out
> what
> all the commotion was about. The others would not have even bothered
> to
> get up, but this boy would have definitely gone to see what was going
> on.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks! Janice
>
>
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posted by Chaddo at 7:46 AM
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