Concerning crias…

Care of the newborn cria was a key topic of discussion at the recent NZVA conference held in Hamilton.  Claire Whitehead from the USA was beamed in by video-link to deliver a very enlightening presentation to the Camelid Branch of the NZVA.  While a lot of her discussion related to intensive management of the newborn cria, a couple of pertinent points were raised for management in the more extensive NZ situation.
Hypothermia and hypoglycaemia
These are still the biggest risks to alpaca born in wet, cool environments.  Drying and warming cria using heat lamps, towels, hot water bottles etc are all recommended and well-known treatments.  In the case of hypoglycaemia, IV fluids are often required but early intervention on farm often makes the difference between success and failure.  Initial on-farm treatment can include 20ml of 40-50% dextrose solution, given orally or per rectum.  A standard bag of Bomac dextrose is 40% and is available from your local clinic.  Alternatively, smearing honey or golden syrup inside the mouth of a collapsed cria can be a life-saver while waiting for IV fluids.
Congenital heart defects
This is one of the many diseases discussed at the conference and one that we see commonly.  Often, affected cria are slow on their feet, grow less rapidly than unaffected mates and are more susceptible to changes in environmental temperatures.  In fact, one of the most common causes of death in cria following a bout of inclement weather is congenital heart defects.  Below are two photos of the hearts of two different cria at post-mortem showing a ventricular septal defect (VSD or a “hole in the heart”) and a patent ductus ateriosus, (PDA).  Both of these cria died unexpectedly following a cold, wet night.  As these may be inherited defects, it is worth carrying out post mortems on cria that have died unexpectedly, particularly after a bout of inclement weather.

Orthopaedics

Sometimes it's nice to work outside your usual comfort zone, and tackle something a bit more challenging, just to keep the old brain cells ticking along.  Ella was just such a case.  Ella was was 5 week old alpaca who sustained a nasty fracture to the hindleg.  4 weeks of casting appeared to have done the trick, but on removing the cast she was so happy with her new leg that she promptly jumped in the air and broke it again.  This time she stuck the bone through the skin, hooked a piece of skin under the end, and pulled that into the leg, thus setting up a beautiful infected, unstable, compound fracture.

There is precious little soft tissue coverage over the lower leg bones in alpacas, which meant a plate fixation would be extremely difficult to cover with skin.  Also, the compound nature of the injury means permanent implants at the fracture site are a bad idea.

We opted to put an external skeletal fixator (ESF) device on instead.  This allowed the bones to be manipulated back into alignment without cutting the leg open, and the pins drilled across the leg to join to the external rod apparatus.  Three rods completed the device, all very stable and strong.  Ella could walk on the leg straight after surgery.

Rye grass staggers

Rye grass staggers is a nervous disease of sheep, cattle, horses, deer and alpacas. It is commonly seen during the summer and autumn period. Stock grazing rye grass ingest the poisonous endophyte which is present in all parts of the rye grass plant, but in especially high concentrations in the leaf sheath and oldest leaves.  Read more to find out the clinical signs, control and treatment in sheep, cattle, horses & alpacas.