Seen a foot like this?

[marcellapj]

Pre-Note: I am reposting this here in case it might help someone else with a similar problem. I am fairly new to the guild and posted it a few weeks ago in a clicker training discussion as I didn't know how to post a new thread. So here it is copied :-)

Speaking of trimming toenails, this is what I was shocked to see when I lifted my Rico's foot yesterday :eek:

I have an appointment with the vet on Monday, but has anyone ever seen this before?

He is not limping or anything at all to show discomfort. In fact he is always the first one in the herd running towards us when we call them.
I am also sending some photos to my breeders and shearers (who also have a 25 member herd) in case this is a "New Zealand" thing.

But any input any of you can give will help to relieve my anxiety as the greatest fear comes from the unknown. I am relatively new to owning any kind of herd animal/alpacas. We have them solely as pets. So I am pretty scared right now!

Thanks!
Marcie

[marcellapj]

Pre-Note: Here was the outcome of the vet visit.

Hi again,

Yes Marty, I wanted to start a new thread with this foot issue and tried to do that, but could not figure how. I thought I might not be allowed since I am only an associate member. Please feel free to move this to a more appropriate area of the forum as I hope it helps someone else in the same boat.

With the vet; we scrubbed his foot with a soap and warm water. By the following Monday it looked like this. The vet said this is an old injury that is healing. We had a wet end-to-winter/beginning-of-spring which led to very soft pads making him prone to injury. There are no signs of infection or lameness, so no treatment for now. I am to check it every week to make sure it carries on healing and call if there are any signs of lameness as he will be prone to a secondary injury in that soft/healing spot until it is completely healed.

Thank goodness the dry warm weather is here and Rico is still looking good without any signs of a problem :-)

Thank so much Jan for your support too :-)

Cheers,
Marcie

[Marty McGee Bennett]

Thanks Marcie, at the risk of sounding like a know it all I thought it might be an old injury that was on its way out instead of a new thing on its way in. How nice that it was. Thanks for reposting. I looked around to see as moderator if I could have moved the post and it was more complicated than my brain could handle so thanks!

[Marsha]

Just a note of reassurance - I had a yearling slice a goodly portion of the bottom of her pad off a couple of years ago. It healed so well you can't even see where it was! The pad seems to self-restore very easily!

[Marty McGee Bennett]

Camelid feet and eyes seem to be remarkably adept at healing. Makes sense I guess from an environmental evolutionary standpoint it would make sense that these body parts would heal and heal quickly.