[AlpacaTalk] Re: alpaca down/can't rise

 

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions.  Sorry no time to reply to each individually.
The main problem is not bloat; that was just my first thought.
It is her legs buckling.   When we get her up, she can stand and walk.
She is eating, pooping, alert.   No other obvious problems, except simply cannot get up on her own.
And while she is up for a variable length of time, her front legs buckle and down she goes.
She cannot move herself to eat, drink, or stand up to poop.  Temp was 103 yesterday.   Didn't take it today.

What I have observed today, as I had the luxury of being able to spend most of the day with her, is that her ankles are turning backwards on her.
She seems a little confused about walking, but does plod along, stumbling occ. not always going down.   Sometimes legs will start to buckle and she will be able to catch herself; other times not and down she goes.

As previously mentioned she has had this re-occurring "spasm" in a back leg for the past 2 yrs or so; but that is not what is going on now.   Now it is her front legs that are the problem.   Seems to be in her ankles.
I saw her take a step and when putting one foot down the ankle flopped backwards.  If she had put her foot all the way down the weight would have been on the front of the ankle.   I don't know how to describe it except that the ankle just flopped backwards in opposite position that it should have been to take a step.
When we lift her up she doesn't or can't seem to put her front legs down at first.  But then she does and she is standing.    Then walking around just fine.

I know she cannot go on like this.   I am not here all day every day to keep lifting her up.  Once she goes down she cannot get to food or water.   But even when I put water right in front of her I have not yet seen her take a drink at all.  Today I fed her her grain soaked with a lot of water to get some liquid in her and gave her several apples (all the alpacas love the apples falling off the tree right at their fence line).   She loves loves loves the apples.   I figured that would get some fluid in her.   This evening I let her out in the yard to graze hoping it would keep her entertained enough to keep her walking around for a while...and it did - for about 2 hrs.   When I went out for dinner feeding and moving them to night time positions, she was down right in front of the gate to go back into pasture.   I don't know if she just happened to go down there, or was ready to go back in and just went down where she wanted to be to wait for me.

So the problem is not bloat; it is something to do with her legs.   But came on so suddenly that I have to wonder what could have caused it - West Nile?  M-worm (it is not paralysis, but possibly neurological?).
Just grasping at straws for a cause and solution.
I know she cannot go on like this, but she is not sick, and certainly not on death's doorstep.  She just can't get herself around.

Janice in NW GA

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