Llama with tick paralysis!

Mama&thePeeps

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I know, we've all been told that llamas don't get ticks. Here's my (LONG) story:

August 16, 2010: Monday morning Sweet Dreams (1yoM) wouldn't get up. Call University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine and they say bring him in..sounds like Meningeal worm.

Monday they give him an IV in his neck and rehydrated him with fluids. They said he was severely dehydrated. Evidently he became paralyzed earlier in the day on Sunday and hadnt had anything to drink in a long while. He goes into shock and they have to administer anti-shock fluids through his IV. They took many blood samples. They start the treatment for meningeal worm just in case. The only way to see if he has that disease is with a spinal fluid sample, of which they tried and couldn't get any fluid. Hes very, very sick, they say.

August 17, 2010: Tuesday, still not up. Eating well. Acting sickly though. The blood tests all came back negative for any other disease they could think of. But he still can't get up. So they float him in a tank of water and he can move his legs if there's no weight on them. Not very well, but he can. There is a treadmill on the bottom of said 'float tank' and they make him walk a bit every day (physical therapy for llamas).

August 18, 2010: Wednesday, still not up. Not eating. The vet tells me llamas don't have any desire to live if they're sick and usually die within 72 hours. I go in on Wednesday afternoon and bring his own food and snacks from home. He eats right out of my hand.

August 19, 2010: Thursday, still not up. But eating well. Prognosis very grim. Vet thinks he's need to be put down. We said no. They did finally get spinal fluid out and that test came back negative too. So they took an ex-ray of his neck for injuries and it came back negative too! They are at a complete loss and the Dr. tells me we need to euthanize him since he can't walk. But she also thinks that he would have given up by now if he were really sick.

Thursday afternoon they put him in a different pool to assess his limbs better after having all those negative tests. Even the Dr. wants to know what's wrong. FINALLY, during his swim test they notice a TICK on him. The Dr. researched in the Vet Journals after finding a tick on him and lo-and-behold, there is a little known record of a llama getting 'temporary paralysis' from ticks. The treatment? "Remove the tick" she says, "and he should be able to stand in a couple hours to a couple days". SWEET! And she wanted to put him down.

August 20, 2010: Friday, I spend the day with Sweet Dreams.
Sweety tries to get up. He can get his back legs up about the way, but his front wont work that well yet. So he falls back down. Hell try that a couple times and quit. He did knock himself over on his side and lay there a while stretching out his legs and bending them back and forth.

Hes acting normal. He eats out of my hand and generally fights the attendant giving his medicine. All those are things he wasnt doing earlier in the week.

The student Dr. today said she found another case of two llamas having tick paralysis in a medical journal. One llama was completely better in 9 days and the other one only took 6 days to recover. We have high hopes for Sweet Dreams.

August 21, 2010: Saturday, student Dr. called at 8:30 am because she was so excited. She said the student workers last night got Sweet Dreams up with the aid of belts and he stood on his own for a while! She tried that herself when she got in for rounds in the morning and he stood for awhile and even took a couple of steps! She is very hopeful of a complete recovery now.

We went to visit Sweet Dreams for a while today. We got Sweety up and he tried to walk out the gate too! But his front legs collapsed and he sat back down.

August 22, 2010: Sunday they said Sweety is getting more feisty and not liking it when they clean his catheter or do his physical therapy. We went to see him and saw him trying to get up. He really wants to go, but his legs still arent cooperating well yet.

August 23, 2010: Monday, the student Dr. calls and says with just a little help he gets up and tries to walk around (get away from them, really). She sees daily improvement in him.

August 24, 2010: Tuesday, the student Dr. calls and said they got Sweety up and had him walking all the way to the outside fenced in area for grazing!! She was so happy. So we stopped by the UT Vet Hospital to see him. When we approached, Sweety stood up ALL ON HIS OWN! And took several steps and even starting munching more grass while standing up. Then he sat down and ate some more. A few minutes later he got up again and walked to the other end of the enclosure. Hes really wobbly, like a cria.

August 25, 2010: Wednesday, I called to get an update on the boys. The student Dr. said that Sweety jumps right up when you approach his pen, just like a perfectly healthy llama.

August 26, 2010: Thursday, Sweet Dreams really wants to go home. She said they can come home tomorrow! We plan on picking them up at 8:00 am. tomorrow.

August 27, 2010: Friday, everyone comes home happy and healthy. What llama drama!
 

ksalvagno

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Wow, what a great recovery! Sometimes it pays to make the doctors look further at things and don't just go along with what they say. I'm glad you stood up for your llama and had such a great outcome! :thumbsup
 

Shiloh Acres

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Thanks for sharing that story. I'm so glad you didn't allow them to give up on him, and glad to hear he's home and all is well !!!:weee
 

Emmetts Dairy

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:celebrate What a fabulous story!! Good for you guys for not giving up!!!

Great that you shared this for all to learn from!!

All that from a "tick" amazing....???
 

MrsCountryChick

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:clap What a Wonderful story!!! But Wow all from a tick..... so there's no issue with Lyme disease affecting him? Hope he continues to improve! :bun
 

mully

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Great story .... Llamas do not get sick often but when they do it is very puzzling. So wonderful that he recovered so well. All the best !!!
 

Mama&thePeeps

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Yeah, I had seen that link too when I was trying to learn more about this disease. The rarity of information on the Net about this led me to post this here just to get the word out more to us who have/love llamas.

Sweety is doing well. His fiber is starting to grow back now, so he's not quite so naked-looking, but here's a photo from when he first returned back home after his hospital stay.
Sweet-Dreams.jpg


I'm still so amazed at seeing him standing. He runs, plays and acts perfectly normal again. We are so blessed.
 

MrsCountryChick

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Beautiful lil guy! Looks like he's disguised as an alpaca. :lol: He just looks small, but Adorable just the same. :) Nice to see a recovery story! :clap :thumbsup
 
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