Tuesday 20th June 2017
Devastating news:
Devastating news: Saturn died today and has left a very bereft Pluto and Mercury. She was not good first thing when we did our initial checking of all stock in that she was in the cush position ( the resting position of an alpaca when s/he sits with its legs bent under its body), not really moving, was showing no inclination to eat and had a LOW temperature of 34.6 (it should be 37.5 to 38.5). Pluto was hungry too and kept nudging his mum to stand up.
The vet came out and other than no movement in her rumen, could find little wrong with her (her temperature was up to 36.5 by this stage) and so she gave her some pain relief and said to monitor Saturn over the next two to three hours.
Over this period, Saturn did get up a bit and Pluto had a couple of long drinks but we could not get Saturn to eat anything and she continued to be quiet and, when on her feet, rather wobbly. She then lay down almost flat and her breathing became a tad laboured so we asked the vet to come back.
Less than 45 minutes later and just before the vet arrived, Saturn died. It was such a shock to see her and then utterly heart-rendering to see and hear Pluto and Mercury so stressed. They both hummed that low humming noise alpacas make whenfeeling very unsure and they ‘hung around’ the barn which is where Saturn had been.
The vet felt it was probably a twisted gut (torsion) - surgery would have been the only option but because this happened so fast, it would have been unlikely we could have saved her. As to why this may have occurred: stress can be a factor and so we do wonder whether the stress of shearing was how it all began… Our focus now has to be Pluto who as a 4-day old cria is going to need our attention rather a lot now. The most crucial first step was to get milk inside him and luckily for us, we were able to milk Sorrel and put that in a bottle for Pluto. Goats’ milk is perfect for nursing animals as it is easily digestible but also has a high milk-fat content. It is recommended that cria have 10% of their bodyweight in milk per day which in Pluto’s case means 960ml (he is 9.6kg). (Mars btw is 10.3!)
Saturn died just before 4pm. Pluto had drunk a fair but by them but nonetheless we felt we should get him taking from a bottle asap. Over the course of the next eight hours we got 125ml inside him!! He did at one point do a quick leap and a run down the top 3-acre so he is obviously not doing too badly. We hope however, he will be a lot thirstier tomorrow!!!
Over this period, Saturn did get up a bit and Pluto had a couple of long drinks but we could not get Saturn to eat anything and she continued to be quiet and, when on her feet, rather wobbly. She then lay down almost flat and her breathing became a tad laboured so we asked the vet to come back.
Less than 45 minutes later and just before the vet arrived, Saturn died. It was such a shock to see her and then utterly heart-rendering to see and hear Pluto and Mercury so stressed. They both hummed that low humming noise alpacas make whenfeeling very unsure and they ‘hung around’ the barn which is where Saturn had been.
The vet felt it was probably a twisted gut (torsion) - surgery would have been the only option but because this happened so fast, it would have been unlikely we could have saved her. As to why this may have occurred: stress can be a factor and so we do wonder whether the stress of shearing was how it all began… Our focus now has to be Pluto who as a 4-day old cria is going to need our attention rather a lot now. The most crucial first step was to get milk inside him and luckily for us, we were able to milk Sorrel and put that in a bottle for Pluto. Goats’ milk is perfect for nursing animals as it is easily digestible but also has a high milk-fat content. It is recommended that cria have 10% of their bodyweight in milk per day which in Pluto’s case means 960ml (he is 9.6kg). (Mars btw is 10.3!)
Saturn died just before 4pm. Pluto had drunk a fair but by them but nonetheless we felt we should get him taking from a bottle asap. Over the course of the next eight hours we got 125ml inside him!! He did at one point do a quick leap and a run down the top 3-acre so he is obviously not doing too badly. We hope however, he will be a lot thirstier tomorrow!!!