Colic? Blindness? Something Else? (VET UPDATE!)

[AlpacaEmployee]

Just to clear this up, can a ruminant colic? a camelid? I've seen choke, and heard of ulcers due to certain drugs, but never colic.

 

[SkyWarrior]

Just to clear this up, can a ruminant colic? a camelid? I've seen choke, and heard of ulcers due to certain drugs, but never colic.

Llamas can have impaction colics, among other things like gastric torsion or bloat. So, yes. My llama books say they can.

 

[AlpacaEmployee]

hmm. I'm definitely going to have to read up on that!

 

[SkyWarrior]

hmm. I'm definitely going to have to read up on that!

Having owned and raced sled dogs, I tend to think about things like that because gastric torsion is big with dogs. I figured that llamas, being deep-chested, and having more stomachs could easily have similar problems. Horses get colic all the time, but I don't know about it enough to claim any sort of expertise.

 

[sayyadina]

Dr Pollard has a joint/tendon repair mix made especially for camelids. It is pricey, but it might be worth it. I haven't used it, but I have used his lactation and immune mixes.

 

[SkyWarrior]

Dr Pollard has a joint/tendon repair mix made especially for camelids. It is pricey, but it might be worth it. I haven't used it, but I have used his lactation and immune mixes.

Can you provide the link?

 

[ksalvagno]

I think if you just do a search on Dr Pollard's herbs, you should be able to find it. Also places like Useful Llama Items and Quality Llama Products carries it.

 

[AlpacaEmployee]

I know it's common for horses to colic, but they have a post-gastric fermentation digestive system. Llamas and alpacas have a ruminant digestive system, and these are much tougher. I've heard of a few things but rarely do you see a goat, sheep, or cow with digestive problems, or ones similar to colic at least.

 

[ksalvagno]

I've seen ulcers more than colic. Once in a while I have had an alpaca have some type of stomach problem but I can't say that it was true colic. Some Banamine and Gastroguard took care of the problem.

 

[sayyadina]

http://www.llamadocherbs.com/id3.htm

I've seen an impaction colic and gas colic and ulcers twice. Current research has shown that gastroguard isn't effective in treating ulcers, though sucralfate is.