Vitamin D and Rickets in alpacas

[Laurie Findlay]

Hi there,
I know most farms supplement their alpacas and llamas with vitamin A & D in the fall and winter. But I am going through something right now that I would not wish on anyone. About a week ago I noticed one of my cria, black, very dense fleece acting very depressed. No crooked legs mind you, just not very happy or bouncy. I put her and her mom in a pen and observed for 24 hours. The cria kept cushing, even when eating, and moving back and forth on her legs while standing. After 24 hours I took them to my vet. My vet told me she had seen very many cases of this in the last several weeks in cria at the age of 4 months and older. When they really start growing. She pulled blood, took fecals and per her on IV's with glucose, vitamin B and gave her an A & D shot. In talking with my neighboring alpaca ranch we both discoverd that our A & D vitamins had EXPIRED! We had been giving our animals A & D that had NO POTENCY! Thus several of our best animals are now experiencing clinical rickets. I am just sick about it and the pain they are going through. This disease is not cured in a day. It will take weeks and hopefully they will all pull through. Please look at your expiration dates on your paste and all of your medications. You wouldn't think that an expiration date on vitamins would mean so much, but it does. I always does my cria at birth and throughout the winter, but it doesn't do much good if the vitamins I am dosing have lost their potency.

[Marty McGee Bennett]

wow! I am so sorry this happened. Have you gotten all the results back from your vet? Also are you offering any other type of mineral that they can eat that would have A and D available? Have you had your hay analyzed and also thought about the rest of their diet. I only say these things because a good diet is composed of many things and perhaps you were in a situation wherein because of the rest of your diet you were overly dependant on your supplement. It might be a good idea to evaluate your entire feeding program now rather than assume that it was simply expired vitamins.

[rose@almapark.com]

Laurie - sorry to hear of your situation, but I agree with Marty - I would have a look at the rest of your feeding program. I feed good quality hay and supplement with grain and free choice minerals, and I have to be honest - I do not do A&D at all, so it could possibly be something else with this little guy, or the nutritional program.

Please let us know what you find out.

Rose

[AliceHoffman]

We also have a little guy the Chilean government gave us to take care of over this past winter in Chile. His mom is only about 40¨tall, and he was born late, in February. He is now 9 months old, but has hardly grown (only about 20¨tall), is still nursing, a little weak, likes to lay down a lot, even when eating, and his back legs seem a little unsteady. The vet recommended vitamin D and calcium shots, but since he´s still nursing and all the other cria are fine, I don´t see how that is all that is wrong with him. Is it possible that some cria are just dwarf-like and that is normal for them?

[OHL]

Alice,
I would suspect that Vitamin D may be an issue for him. I personally wouldn't give calcium shots or more than one Vitamin D shot, as both can be overdosed.

I would suspect you may have a failure to thrive cria, which can be the result of (and compounded by) many things, including lack of colostrum, early malnutrition, underlying disease, parasitism, etc. Basically, it is a compromised immune system that makes the animal more susceptible to everything else that ultimately leads to a stunted animal that may or may not survive. Generally, a true failure to thrive animal does not see two years old, even with life-saving measures.

How is his body condition? Have you had a fecal floatation done to check parasite levels? Are his eyelids bright pink/red, or pale/white? Do you know if mom has, or ever had, a sufficient supply of milk for him?

I don't think what you are describing can be called "normal" for an alpaca/llama. The fact that he is weak, lays down a lot and is much less vigorous than the other crias his age tells me that there is something serious going on, but I don't think it is simply a lack of Vit D or calcium.

Best of luck.

Sara

[rose@almapark.com]

Alice -- I agree with Sara. Sounds odd. Lethargy and slow growth can either be "failure to thrive" or coccidia. I do not think the vitamin D or calcium would help in either case. I would start with fecal and bloodwork if the fecal is unremarkable.

Rose

[Julie Taylor-Browne]

This is really a new post but I am not sure how to start one!

My query is a bit long - sorry in advance. A client of mine is a very good owner, caring and conscientious and punctual with A, D, and E and all routine shots. Two years ago a 3.5 year old gelding started to suffer from front leg angulation problems (knock-knees) which look like classical rickets. Despite A, D and E and selenium, blood tests and X-rays nothing could be identified and it was attributed to tendon problems.

Subsequent to that a number of her other animals are now starting to suffer the same condition. They are not all related, are the progeny of very good, straightlegged stock and not all the animals are going down with it. So far the suris are unaffected but 4 out of her 5 black animals have been affected as well as one white. They range in age from 8 months to 6 years. They are fed on Camelibra and Fibregest which allegedly offer the correct mineral balance for Camelids

She has had her soil analysed which reveals low pH and low calcium, which is a very common profile in our area and is the in the process of having her forage analysed.

Has anyone encountered this before? Or can make any suggestions as to the cause.

JTB

[Marty McGee Bennett]

is this related to the gelding discussion we had when I was over there? Were you thinking that it had something to do with early gelding? I assume that not all of the animals are geldings... and it doesn't look like that would explain it?

[rose@almapark.com]

Hi Julie - being in the US - I am not familiar with Camelibra and Fibregest. I can only think of 2 things:

1 - Do they feed a free choice mineral supplement like what we have in the US - Norm Evans Mineral Blend E or many others on the market
2 - I have a girl with pretty bad legs that I rescued from a breeder in CA - when I got to their farm I was shocked to see the pastures totally tree covered - I do not know how this animal could have EVER received any sun!! So my question - do the alpacas get adequate sun?

So - I would check those 2 things as well because that is all I can think of right now.

Rose

[silverpunch]

http://www.alpacaresearchfoundation....Nutrition.html
this online article is worth a look to understand the balance needed in minerals...phosporus and potassium (our banana minerals in human diet) are also significant so a good feed supplement like camelibra could help too. also pure old fashioned sunshine on the skin....