Zinc Deficiency - Need ideas on how to get zinc sulfate powder into our alpaca

Discussion in 'Medical' started by alpacadreams, Jul 11, 2015.

  1. alpacadreams

    alpacadreams Associate Member

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    We have a female who has lost the hair on the top of her front legs and the skin is now thick and leathery looking. She also has similar skin inside her back legs, on her belly and even on a nipple. The vet had us treat her with with ivermectin (2ml / 100 lbs) every 2 weeks for mites/mange. After a month there was no improvement so our vet also has us treating her for zinc deficiency. The treatment is 1 - 2 grams zinc sulfate per day for 2 - 3 months. That amount of zinc is equivalent to 9 capsules of 220mg zinc sulfate. What I am needing help with is coming up with ideas on how to get the zinc powder into Rosie each day. I started out with putting 1/2 c senior equine grain (it is a treat here reserved for late pregnancy and nursing moms) in a bowl; emptying the 9 zinc capsules and sprinkling the zinc over the grain and then squeezing some corn syrup over that and then mixing it all together until all the zinc powder is attached to the grain. Then I add some more grain on top of that to try and camoflauge it. The first 6 days she ate all of it and then started turning up her nose at it. So I switched to using vegetable oil instead of corn syrup. That seemed to make the grain too wet for her so I am going to cut back on the amount of oil I use, but I"m wondering if anyone has tried other methods that I haven't thought of yet. Does anyone have any ideas? We know we could dissolve it and give it to her like oral medicine but we really don't want to do that every day for 3 months.....we figure that would More than empty out our trust bank with her!
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2015
  2. marty mcgee bennett

    marty mcgee bennett Administrator

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  3. alpacadreams

    alpacadreams Associate Member

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  4. marty mcgee bennett

    marty mcgee bennett Administrator

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  5. Susanne

    Susanne Well-Known Member

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  6. marty mcgee bennett

    marty mcgee bennett Administrator

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  7. alpacadreams

    alpacadreams Associate Member

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  8. marty mcgee bennett

    marty mcgee bennett Administrator

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  9. alpacadreams

    alpacadreams Associate Member

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  10. marty mcgee bennett

    marty mcgee bennett Administrator

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