DMAR Alpaca and Maremma Blog

Valley Fever and Michelle Rose:

Before Valley Fever Pictures (taken in December 2008):

Tom and I always try to do herd management every month. However, we were so busy with the Phoenix show coming up in March that we didn’t do it in January. February came and I remarked to Tom at how skinny Michelle looked. We didn’t think too much of it since she had a cria at side and figured his nursing was causing her to lose weight. Regardless I couldn’t believe my ears when Tom read me her weight from the scale. Michelle is a tall girl and has always been on the skinny side, but we were able to maintain her at 165 lbs. Now Tom was telling me she was weighing 150 lbs. Valley Fever went through our minds, but the only symptom she was showing was weight loss. We kinda brushed it off, but I made an appt. for her anyway. The vet was out of town and with our show coming up we didn’t get Michelle in until 3 weeks later. In the meantime I started feeding Michelle extra grain.

The week of the show we weighed Michelle again. We couldn’t get a straight reading, but she was anywhere between 148 and 150 lbs. This wasn’t good. I separated Michelle and her cria, Valentino, into their own stall. I began free feeding and giving grain 3 times a day at 3-4 cups daily. The grain was Mazuri Repro & Growth formula, alfalfa pellets, and now beet pulp in the hopes of chunking her up. While at the show I had a volunteer to come in to feed Michelle personally. At least she was now maintaining her weight and not losing anymore.

The following week I heard what sounded like fluid in Michelle’s nasal passage. Pretty much like she needed to blow her nose. I called the vet and was advised to start administering Naxcel. The next day I took Michelle in and the vet drew blood. It would be a couple of days to find out if she had valley fever or not. Sure enough she did. Michelle was put immediately on Doccicyclene (antibotics for her upper respiratory infection) and Ketoconazole (antifungal med). It has only been a week, but Michelle is now up to 153.6 lbs. She may or may not have to remain on the meds for a year. We will have to see how her body reacts to the medication and if she is able to kill off the fungus.

Pictures of Michelle with Valley Fever Disease taken in March 2009: Notice that you can really see her spine. Notice her back legs have very little space between them. Notice how her hip bones are showing way too much in her rearview photo. Due to a couple of fevers recently Michelle has wool break. This fiber will be worthless this year.

The medical name for Valley Fever is coccidioidomycosis. Valley Fever is a fungus that lives in low desert areas with high temperatures and dry soil. Valley Fever can be contracted in the Southwestern US including California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The fungus in the form of spores becomes airborned when the soil is disrupted by construction, walking, or wind. The spores are breathed into the nose and land in the lungs.

Once in the lungs the spore changes into spherules which continue to grow until they burst. This burst releases hundreds of endospores. Each endospore can grow into a new spherule and the cycle continues. If not treated Valley Fever could move out of the lungs and into other organs and joints causing lameness.

Symptoms of Valley Fever consist of the following:

• Loss of appetite
• Extreme weight loss
• Lameness
• Coughing
• Fever

Valley Fever symptoms can take between 1 -4 weeks to appear. The day before I took Michelle into the vet she started to cough.

Valley Fever is not contagious. A spore must be inhaled by each individual animal. Coughing does not spread spores. Valley Fever is not an animal disease alone. Humans can also get inflicted with this disease. Most don’t even know they have it.

We expect Michelle to recover, but it will take time. It appears we caught it at the beginning. It does need to be noted that she may relapse again in the future. Michelle is being held open until she no longer needs to take the meds. After that there will be no problem in getting her pregnant.

I will keep you all posted on her progress. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

I used two sites in order to write this article: http://phoenix.about.com/cs/health/a/valleyfever01.htm and  http://phoenix.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=phoenix&cdn=citiestowns&tm=455&gps=126_1651_1020_552&f=00&su=p284.9.336.ip_p554.12.336.ip_&tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.vfce.arizona.edu/VFCE%2520OLD/ValleyFever/canine/canine.htm

 

 

Alpaca Articles – Uterine Torsion in Alpacas This is the latest article I have written. Not only have I experienced first hand a female showing no sign of having a torsion other than not eating, but recently a fellow breeder just lost a female due to a torsion that was not corrected quickly and caused further internal issues. When I asked them what the dam’s symptoms was I was told only that she wasn’t eating. Do not be fooled into thinking that your dam will roll violently on the ground to let you know she is in trouble. Read more by clicking on the above link.

DMAR Update for Week 3/31:

We are still anxiously awaiting the birth of DMAR Athena’s first cria. Today is day 352. Tom and I cannot sleep the entire night through as we wake up to check the camera to see if she is showing any signs of labor. We have the camera hooked up right to our bedroom television and we don’t shut it off. Very convenient on one hand and awfully annoying on the other. However, I want to be sure to catch the birthing especially if there are any complications. Don’t forget to watch the Live Cam at Home and you too may catch the birthing.

Last month Tom and I had to deal with an alpaca, DMAR Apollo, getting very sick. We were very nervous about his not eating, having severe diarrhea, and a temperature. Although he never went down we could tell that this young male was very ill and we immediately took action to take care of him. You can read about our ordeal at How We Got an Alpaca to Start Eating Again.

Gino, the maremma pup, is now 3 mths old. He is still available and for $750 he comes fully dewormed, second set of shots, and microchipped. Gino is growing nicely and is already following the rest of the adult dogs around barking and trying to keep up with the chase. Gino is not afraid of the alpacas and does not chase after them. He will occasionally walk up to them and sniff them out, but for the most part he leaves them alone.

The Arizona Fiber Co-op recently received back our products from the mill. Every year the co-op gathers donated fiber only from the Arizona Alpaca growers and sends it off to the mill to have yarn, sock, and other products made. This year DMAR store has had rose grey cable knitted dress socks and cream colored yarn skeins made. You can view and purchase these items now at DMAR Store. All payments are done through Pay Pal which is secure.

We now have gardeners coming by for our alpaca manure. We off the manure for free, so simply call us for a first time appt. We will show you where it is. After that you can stop by at your leisure to pick some up. We do have a shovel for you to use, but you need to bring your own bags or buckets.

Click on the link Alpaca Article – Alpaca Shearing to view the most recent article.

Summer is coming up quickly. Alpaca ranchers in SE Arizona are busily preparing their alpacas to be sheared by late April through May. For the health of the alpaca you want to get the fiber off of them before summer hits as to not create heat stress. Are you ready?

This month’s articles on alpacas is Keeping Alpacas Safe.  Owning alpacas means having to think about keeping predators away. This article is mostly about what we did to protect our alpacas. Of course there are other things that can be done, but hopefully I can get your mind thinking.

The March Alpaca Article – Ulcers – in- Alpacas is the hardest article I have written to date. I am still filled with emotion and cannot even begin to explain how my husband feels. Overall we hope together that our loss will be someone’s gain if this article can help them read the signs of their alpaca having an ulcer. Ulcers unfortunately are a silent killer, but as silent as ulcers are they are very painful to the alpaca. There is nothing worse than to see an alpaca you love in pain and feeling useless in helping to resolve the issue. Please feel free to post or to contact us privately at info@desertmtnalpacas.com should you have any questions or comments.

January’s article is now up. Click on the link to go to the page. Creating an Alpaca Ranch Store

 

Feel free to post any questions you might have.

In the Alpaca Article – Got Milk? I mentioned using Domperidone as a treatment for enhancing the milk production in poor or non-milk producers. I failed to mention that Thiamine shots also need to be given at the same time. Tests done by Dr. Evans shows more success in dams creating milk when given additional Thiamine. This was our second year using Domperidone and Thiamine on a poor milk producer and we are very happy with the results.  

My new article has been posted at Cria Preparedness. If you are new and needing a list of necessities here is a good place to look.

If anyone has anything they want to add, please comment here. I would love to hear what other ranches are or are not using.

Soon I will be posting the 2007 arrivals.  

 

 

I have published my November article of Alpaca Shows. It can be viewed at Alpaca Shows. Let me know if I left anything off my list that you feel is important. I am also interested in hearing about any show experiences that can be shared with others.