Marty asked that I share a recent experience in the hopes that it is of benefit to others....sorry, it's rather long but does have a wonderful happy ending...for Bella and Kali. Sometime during the night of May 4th, a cougar attacked my females and killed my precious Isabella. She was the sweetest alpaca and the best Mom you can imagine. The loss and the stress on all was huge. From the tracks throughout their field I can only imagine what they went through. Especially her three year old pregnant daughter, Kali. Isabella and Kali were loners and spent a lot of time together. Less than two days later, Saturday, Kali gave birth to a premature baby girl, named Bella after her grandmother. Bella wasn't strong enough to nurse so I started syringe feeding her powdered bovine colostrum every hr. Neither Kali or anyone else in the herd wanted anything to do with Bella. I milked Kali as much as I could so that her milk would get flowing. That night I put Kali and Bella in a shed with open half doors so Kali could see the rest of the herd. The nights were cold and rainy. Was also hoping it would help them bond. They had to be by themselves because Kali was very stressed if I put someone else in with them. Again, missing Isabella as she was always the one to be with Kali if they had to go into a shed or be separate from the herd. When I went down for the night feedings, Kali was cushed as far away as she could get from Bella. At the 10 pm feeding Bella's coat felt wet. Thought she'd laid in urine so went back up to the house to get her a dry coat and noticed my hands were covered in blood. Called our vet who was on another emergency call. She thought the umbilical cord had ruptured and told me to tie it tightly with sewing thread and if the bleeding didn't stop to call her back. Bleeding stopped. Next day, Sunday, Bella couldn't even raise her head she was so weak. I put Bella and Kali with the rest of the herd to help reduce Kali's stress. Kali stayed close but never touching... I gave Bella Vitamin A&D and a vitamin E shot and continued with the colostrum. Vet came out at noon and gave her an antibiotic shot. Milked Kali and we gave it to Bella. She said to switch to goats milk because it had more fat and we'd done the colostrum for 20 hrs. She didn't have much hope that Bella would make it. Gave Bella hourly syringes of goats milk with a little kefir. As much as I could get into her. She had had a poop and was urinating so we knew internally things were working. By Monday Bella was a little stronger and Kali was paying more attention to her. Even cushing beside her. Someone was here doing construction work and he helped me try to get Bella to nurse. Kali wanted no part of it. We milked Kali. One teat was producing pink milk. By 5 p.m. Kali had no milk coming out. Switched Bella to a bottle so she would get the idea of sucking on something that more closely resembled a teat. She had suction and could even pull the syringe down when I was feeding her with the syringe. Feedings were now every two hours between 6 a.m. and midnight. Gave Bella and Kali Arnica the first couple of days. Kali also had a dose of Lac Caninum the second day and Pulsatilla the third day along with some more Arnica. Bella got stronger and stronger and then on day 5 she started nursing. Once, twice and then more frequently. She and Kali bonded more and more. Bottle feedings went from five times a day, to four times a day, to three times a day. Two and a half weeks later, I'm almost out of a job!!!!! Delighted with becoming an observer rather than a participant. Bella has surpassed her birth weight and is prancing around the field, as only cries can, making my heart sing. So please, please, please, never give up hope and faith in the bond between mother and cria!!!
