Alpaca female with diarrhea

[Laura White]

I have a female alpaca who is pregnant with green diarrhea...I am not sure what avenue to go...do I worm her? and if so with what or do I treat for the diarrhea and with what or do I treat for both..she acts normal ... has a good appetite and is very alert...any thoughts and help would be appreciated...thanks Laura

 

[TAH]

I have a female alpaca who is pregnant with green diarrhea...I am not sure what avenue to go...do I worm her? and if so with what or do I treat for the diarrhea and with what or do I treat for both..she acts normal ... has a good appetite and is very alert...any thoughts and help would be appreciated...thanks Laura

I will tag people that will know.

@luvmypets @Latestarter know of anyone else.

 

[Latestarter]

Ummm... ahhhhhh.... hmmmmm..... There are only a few folks that I believe have alpaca/llama knowledge and some of them haven't been on in quite a while... @purplequeenvt @luvmypets @SkyWarrior @ksalvagno I seem to recollect a couple others, but can't place a name right now.

How long has she had diarrhea? Is she becoming dehydrated? Could she have possibly eaten something poisonous/not good for her in the pasture? As long as she's mobile, alert, eating, I'd suggest maybe putting her in a controlled environment and feeding only hay for a day or two. Make sure she has plenty of water.

 

[Latestarter]

OK, As it turns out, @luvmypets also has a sick alpaca... Hers was vomiting and her vet told her to drench with a quart of pepto and separate from the herd, out of the pasture for a day. He's pretty much back to normal now. I don't know if this would work in your case... I'm not a vet.

 

[luvmypets]

First off sorry for the delayed reply. I have minimal experience with Alpacas as this is our second year raising them so I had to brainstorm some ideas.

So anyways diarrehea in ruminants can have many causes from parasites to a change in diet. Have you introduced any new feeds, grain, pasture, etc? When my lamb had the runs we put electrolytes(bounce back I believe) in his water. Another cause could be coccidiosis. Ive never had to deal with diarrehea in alpacas so Im not sure how to diagnose it. Also, as @Latestarter mentioned, for my sick alpaca we gave him pepto because he ate something he wasn't supposed too. I would recommend trying the electrolytes first and if it persists, call your local farm vet. Make sure they have experience with ruminants. We have to call a vet from a few towns over, but it's worth it to have someone who knows what they are doing. Also as the others have said make sure she has access to lots of water. Sorry I cant be of anymore help, but I hope you figure out what's wrong with your girl.

 

[Raztis11]

I prefer to have a fecal count done before deworming. I don't want deworm unnecessarily as it will further stress to her body. I would try electrolytes and a probiotic with live cultures. A little pep to wont hurt either.

 

[NadineBurch]

Very true!