Body wrap question

[Paulette Kaskinen]

Woody, my adolescent alpaca who happens to be deaf, seems to become anxious quite easily and has begun to cush when he is in the catch pen with the gate closed, and has also puffed/spat in my direction a couple of times at feeding time. He's not a big behavior problem, but I want to keep working with him and will need him to be okay with being in the catch pen. I'm going to be doing short sessions with him to try not to overwhelm him - I think his anxiety there is partly my fault for not seeing his anxiety and keeping him in there a little too long, occasionally with me and an adolescent (human) client.

Anyway, I wondered about using a body wrap with him, if that might be something that would calm him down. Marty, you know my boy - do you think this would be a reasonable thing to try with him? Other suggestions are welcome - he's a wonderful boy, but I'm still a newbie and want to make sure I"m doing well by him!!

Thanks,

Paulette

[Marty McGee Bennett]

I just worked with another deaf animal recently and he did the same thing... puffing and not really spitting exactly but an exhalation with verve! Remember to use big deep breaths when you work with him that really really helps. As far as a body wrap goes. I wouldn't hesitate to try it the problem may be that you get more drama getting it on and off than you are trying to fix. Here is an idea. Try putting the body wrap just around his neck. If you don't have a wrap just use an ace bandage and wrap it around his neck several times and see if that doesn't help. Report back this is cutting edge stuff!

[Liz McDannold]

Hi Paulette,
Thought just occurred to me- how is Woody's field of vision? Does he still have heavy face wool and 'bangs'? I'm remembering that he is a fleecy little guy. Sometimes by this time of year (pre-shearing) they can get a lot of face wool obscuring their field of vision, and since Woody relies so much on his vision, this might make him feel uneasy. A couple of times, working with fleecy youngsters, I've put clippies in their bangs to allow them to see better while working, and it made a difference.

Just a thought!
Liz

[Marty McGee Bennett]

Good thinking Liz, this is a very common reason for alpacas to be jumpy and would be doubly so with a deaf animal.

[Paulette Kaskinen]

Thanks - I actually ordered a body wrap awhile ago with this in mind and will try as you suggest. I'd also been thinking that I needed to trim his face wool and topknot a little, but was hesitant to do anything that would increase his anxiety, so I was holding off. I'll let you know how he does with the wrap on his neck -

Paulette

[Williams]

I do so agree with Liz's suggestion of clippies to help with Woody's vision. I usually work with Suris for show prep -- the poor darlings have such a small window to the world. I encourage owners to trim little triangles out that doesn't affect their appearance, but makes much improvement in their field of vision. And when I work with them I really pull that fleece away with the huge clippies. They behave as if "oh wow" OK I'm willing to try anything with you! And thinking about Woody's deafness and relying more on sight -- I bet this will make a big difference.
Marsha

[Paulette Kaskinen]

We trimmed Woody's facial wool a bit this week, and today I had him in the catch pen and was able to preempt him before he cushed. I did a little TTouch on him but he was trying to pull his head forward the whole time. I wrapped the body wrap around his neck twice (it wasn't tight!) and he initially seemed startled, so I backed off and just held onto the catch rope with lots of slack. He settled down and appeared to stand still, in balance, and think about it. He didn't look particularly distressed, and after a few minutes of us both just standing there, he started looking around, scoping for stray hay, etc. I wanted to keep it short and end on a good note, so I took it off and let him go at that point - he strolled out of the catch pen but again didn't seem distressed.

What do you think? To me it did seem like after the initial startle response, that he was a little calmer than previously.

[Marty McGee Bennett]

This is exactly the way the body wrap works. I am so glad you saw some improvement with the wrap just around the neck it could really make the body wrap much more meaningful to alpaca owners. I have always been a bit reluctant to recommend it just because it can be so difficult for novices to get on and back off without a drama. Your description makes it sound as if it did the trick.

[Paulette Kaskinen]

My handling of the wrap wasn't all that graceful, but it happened that it stayed on and didn't bother him. The trick will be to learn to line it up in such a way that I can still velcro it to itself - I just kind of draped it around twice and since he wasn't moving much, it kind of stuck to itself. If he'd panicked or moved around alot, it wouldn't have been so good to be flopping around! I'll work on it and let you know how he does.

[Marty McGee Bennett]

wrap it around several times. The idea is that he should feel it against his neck. You can just tie it in a bow too.